he  Library 
>f  California,  Los  Angeles 


he  gift  of  Mrs.  Cummings,  1963 


SOCIAL  Z 


OCIAL  ZIONISM 

(Selected  Essays) 
BY 

BERNARD  A.   ROSENBLATT 

Author   of  "The   Social  Commonwealth" 


New    York 

THE  PUBLIC  PUBLISHING  COMPANY,  INC. 
1919 


Copyright,    1919,    by   the   Public   Publishing   Co. 
All  Rights  Reserved 


PS 


To 

^j  My  Wife  and  Companion 

in  Zionism 


j  GERTRUDE 

O 


Known  to  Young  Zionists  as 
"Cousin  Judith" 


30S6146 


INTRODUCTION 
By  JUDGE  JULIAN  W.  MACK 

THE  restoration  of  Palestine  as  the  national 
homeland  of  the  Jewish  people  is  rapidly  ap- 
proaching realization.  For  centuries,  pious  Jews 
have  prayed  for  it;  for  decades,  Jewish  pioneering 
colonists  have  striven  for  it;  for  the  past  twenty 
years,  Jews  everywhere  have  banded  together  in 
the  Zionist  Organization  to  achieve  it.  The  im- 
pelling forces  were  diverse:  the  religious,  racial, 
philanthropic,  and  economic  predominated. 

But  the  rapid  growth  of  the  Zionist  movement 
in  recent  years  is  due,  perhaps,  in  largest  measure 
to  the  added  hope  and  belief  that  in  a  Palestine  with 
an  eventual  Jewish  majority,  and  therefore  in  a  re- 
vived Jewish  civilization,  the  social  visions  of  the 
people  of  Israel  would  be  translated  into  law  and 
practice:  that  the  Jewish  people  chosen  as  ever  for 
service,  would  thereby  be  enabled  again  to  offer  to 
the  world  an  example  of  social  justice,  the  finest 
fruit  of  a  nation's  creative  power. 

The  Pittsburgh  Program  represents  in  part  this 
social  view:  the  author  of  Social  Zionism,  as  one  of 
its  makers,  is  especially  fitted  to  expound  its  prin- 
ciples, especially  insofar  as  they  relate  to  land  and 
taxation. 

JULIAN  W.  MACK. 


INTRODUCTION 
By  MKS.  JOSEPH  FELS 

¥  T  is  most  encouraging  to  those  who  are  hoping 
*  and  striving  for  real  social  progress  to  see  a 
serious  effort  made  by  publicists  to  adapt  modern 
science  to  human  nature.  This  is  particularly  true  in 
regard  to  the  restoration  of  Palestine.  It  was  not 
enough  for  land  reformers  to  say  that  the  earth 
belongs  to  the  human  race,  that  each  person  has 
the  same  right  to  its  use  as  all  others.  That 
might  be  justice,  but  it  does  not  accord  with  human 
nature.  The  idea  of  ownership  is  too  deep  rooted 
to  be  lightly  set  aside.  Men  and  women  wish  to 
own  land,  to  hold  the  title  to  it,  to  sell  it,  or  to 
bequeath  it.  They  would  own  land  as  they  own  a 
house,  or  furniture,  or  the  clothing  on  their  back. 
The  problem  has  been  to  find  a  way  to  harmonize 
the  right  of  all  men  to  all  land,  and  at  the  same 
time,  to  secure  the  right  of  the  individual  to  a  par- 
ticular piece  of  land.  The  author  of  this  booklet 
seems  to  me  to  have  found  the  way  by  organizing 
the  Zion  Commonwealth,  Inc., — a  company  for  land 


purchase  and  development  in  Palestine,  based  upon 
a  program  of  social  justice. 

The  reader  who  examines  the  appendix  will  see 
how  long  a  time  it  has  taken  for  the  author's  social 
program  to  meet  with  popular  approval.  But  the 
splendid  Pittsburgh  Program,  adopted  by  the  Amer- 
ican Zionists  in  June,  1918,  has  placed  these  ideas 
within  the  realm  of  practical  achievement.  Stu- 
dents of  social  science  the  world  over  are  beginning 
to  take  a  keen  interest  in  the  experiment  of  a  Jew- 
ish Palestine.  Those  of  us  who  know  and  under- 
stand Jewish  idealism  have  the  right  to  hope  and 
to  expect  that  the  Land  of  Israel  will  do  its  "bit" 
towards  practical  enactment  of  the  laws  of  social 
justice. 

MRS.  JOSEPH  FELS. 


Introduction. 


IN  the  city  of  Pittsburgh,  on  June  25,  1918,  the 
Zionists  of  America,  in  convention  assembled, 
adopted  a  program  for  the  future  Jewish 
State  in  Palestine,  which  bids  fair  to  be  as  epoch- 
making  as  was  the  first  declaration  of  Zionism, 
known  as  the  Basle  Platform.  As  the  latter  ex- 
presses the  political  aspect  of  Zionism,  even  so  does 
the  Pittsburgh  Program  enunciate  the  social  basis 
of  Zionism  —  a  striving  for  social  justice  that  has 
characterized  the  Jewish  race  throughout  the 
centuries,  from  the  days  of  the  prophets  of  Israel 
even  to  our  own  times.  The  Basle  Platform  is  the 
declaration  of  independence  proclaimed  by  that 
group  within  the  Jewish  race  who  had  determined 
to  build  a  Jewish  State.  The  Pittsburgh  Program 
gives  us  a  picture  of  the  kind  of  state  for  which 
the  Zionists  are  striving. 

The  Pittsburgh  Program,  indeed,  has  world  wide 
significance.  Its  result  may  prove  to  be  of  benefit 
not  to  ourselves  alone,  but  to  all  the  world.  In 


10 


SOCIAL  ZIONISM 


making  Palestine  a  laboratory  for  momentous 
experiments  in  the  quest  for  social  justice,  we  are 
dedicating  the  future  Jewish  State  to  a  world 
purpose,  even  as  Moses  transformed  our  ancestors 
into  a  "chosen  people,"  who,  from  the  vantage 
ground  of  the  Holy  Land,  were  to  bring  the  message 
of  divine  justice  to  the  world.  There,  in  concrete 
experience,  shall  we  realize  the  message  of  the 
prophets  of  Israel,  as  proclaimed  in  the  ancient 
Jewish  state,  for  in  this  final  Jewish  state  we  shall 
develop  a  model  community  based  on  Social  Justice. 
Can  there  be  a  higher  or  nobler  mission?  The 
Pittsburgh  Program,  unanimously  adopted,  reads  as 
a  prophecy  of  the  future  Commonwealth  in  Zion:— 

1.  Political  and  civil  equality  irrespective  of 
race,  sex,  or  faith  of  all  the  inhabitants 
of  the  land. 

2.  To  insure  in  the  Jewish  national  home  in 
Palestine   equality    of    opportunity,    we 
favor  a  policy  which,  with  due  regard  to 
existing  rights,  shall  tend  to  establish  the 
ownership  and  control  of  the  land  and  of 
all  natural  resources,  and  of  all  public 
utilities  by  the  whole  people. 

3.  All  land,  owned  or  controlled  by  the  whole 
people,  should  be  leased  on  such  condi- 


INTRODUCTION 


11 


tions  as  will  insure  the  fullest  opportunity 
for  development  and  continuity  of  posses- 
sion. 

4.  The  co-operative  principle  should  be  ap- 
plied as  far  as  feasible  in  the  organization 
of  all  agricultural,  industrial,  commercial, 
and  financial  undertakings. 

5.  The  fiscal  policy  shall  be  framed  so  as  to 
protect  the  people  from  the  evils  of  land 
speculation  and  from  every  other  form  of 
financial  oppression. 

6.  The    system   of   free   public   instruction 
which  is  to  be  established,  should  embrace 
all  grades  and  departments  of  education. 

7.  The  medium  of  public  instruction  shall  be 
Hebrew,   the   national   language   of  the 
Jewish  people. 

The  second,  third  and  fourth  principles  com- 
prise a  declaration  of  Social  Zionism,  as  a  com- 
plement to  the  Political  Zionism  of  the  older  days. 

The  Pittsburgh  Program  is  the  excuse  as  well 
as  the  justification  for  this  little  volume.  The  author 
first  used  the  phrase  "Social  Zionism"  in  an  article 
appearing  in  the  "Collegiate  Zionist"  in  July,  1910. 
Since  that  day  such  phrases  as  the  "Zion  Common- 
wealth," "Jewish  Industrial  Army,"  and  many  other 


* 


12 


SOCIAL  ZIONISM 


expressions  used  by  the  author  for  the  past  ten 
years,  indicative  of  the  social  element  in  Zionism, 
have  become  the  general  property  of  Jewish  nation- 
alists. 

Yet  these  phrases  are  not  mere  catch  names 
for  subjects  of  essays  and  speeches.  They  represent 
a  well  defined  theory  of  social  action  with  respect 
to  Zionism.  This  theory  is  the  basis  of  all  the  chap- 
ters of  this  book,  which  are  reproductions,  in  whole, 
or  in  part,  of  various  essays  and  articles  published 
during  a  period  of  nine  years  (1910 — 19).  Only  a 
few  words  and  phrases  have  been  changed,  or  omit- 
ted, in  several  instances  where  the  old  word  or 
phrase  might  prove  misleading  at  the  present  time. 
It  follows,  therefore,  that  some  of  the  illustrations 
and  allusions  in  the  various  chapters  may  not  seem 
timely,  or  the  most  appropriate,  in  view  of  the  rapid 
changes  that  have  occurred  during  the  last  few 
years;  yet  this  disadvantage  is  more  than  offset  by 
the  opportunity  that  it  offers  the  reader  to  trace  the 
development  of  a  social  theory  in  Zionism,  culminat- 
ing in  the  adoption  of  the  Pittsburgh  Program.  This 
volume  may,  therefore,  serve  as  an  introduction  to 
the  study  of  certain  planks  in  the  Pittsburgh  Pro- 
gram and  its  implication.  What  is  this  social 
theory  —  what  does  the  Social  Zionist  want? 


INTRODUCTION  13 

A  Social  Zionist  is  one  whose  idealism  is  not 
satisfied  merely  with  the  creation  of  a  Jewish  state, 
but  who  is  determined  to  build  a  model  state  in  the 
Holy  Land  —  freed  from  the  economic  wrongs,  the 
social  injustices  and  the  greed  of  modern-day  in- 
dustrialism. While  he  may  not  be  prepared  to  en- 
dorse the  full  program  of  any  particular  radical 
school,  yet  he  purposes  to  utilize  the  truths  of  all 
schools  in  building  the  new  Commonwealth  in  Zion. 

Not  so  long  ago,  the  champions  of  protective 
tariffs  and  government  subsidies  in  the  United 
States  had  the  temerity  to  oppose  all  radical 
measures  of  social  reform,  on  the  ground  that  we 
must  "let-well-enough-alone,"  and  that  extensive 
"State  Interference"  was  a  dangerous  philosophy, 
since  such  paternalism  would  destroy  the  individual 
liberty  that  has  come  down  to  us  as  an  heirloom 
from  the  fathers  who  framed  the  constitution. 

Gradually,  our  views  on  state  interference  are 
being  transformed.  The  state  is  no  longer  regarded 
merely  as  a  legal  system  with  a  police  force,  as  an 
appendix,  to  enforce  the  decrees  of  the  courts.  Men 
know  now  that  the  state  can  be  utilized  as  a  power 
for  the  self-development  of  society  as  well  as  for  the 
self-realization  of  the  individual.  They  are  con- 
vinced that  the  state,  by  regulating  and  controlling 


14  SOCIAL  ZIONISM 

our  industrial  system,  may  offer  far  more  liberty 
than  we  have  to-day.  Herbert  Spencer  pictures  the 
happy  freedom  of  the  savage,  who  owes  no  alle- 
giance to  Parliament,  with  its  statutes  and  its  sense- 
less interference  in  the  activities  of  the  individual 
citizen.  But  a  careful  critic  reminds  us  that  the  poor 
Englishman,  living  under  a  government  ruled  by 
many  volumes  of  the  revised  statutes,  has  far  more 
liberty  than  the  Australian  Bushman  or  the  Savage 
of  the  South  Seas,  forever  in  fear  of  starvation  and 
murder. 

Not  by  casting  off  all  the  bounds  of  law,  but  by 
increasing  state  activity  for  the  protection  of  our 
economic  life  and  for  increasing  our  common- 
wealth, can  we  approach  true  liberty.  And  so  we 
are  learning  that  poverty,  unemployment  and  all 
the  conditions  that  are  unfavorable  to  the  physical 
development  of  man  are  limitations  upon  true  lib- 
erty. They  are  forces  of  coercion  that  set  bounds  to 
the  self-development  of  the  individual,  for  they  deny 
to  him  the  opportunities  for  physical  and  mental 
growth. 

Yet,  from  one  point  of  view,  there  is  a  strong 
objection  that  may  be  urged  against  extensive  state 
interference.  It  is  the  argument  that  has  been  used 
repeatedly  against  Socialism,  when  we  are  told  that 


INTRODUCTION  15 

socialists  would  substitute  simply  the  coercion  of 
majority  rule  for  the  tyranny  of  captains  of  indus- 
try. Fundamentally,  this  argument  is  the  stronghold 
of  Anarchism,  which  denies  the  right  of  coercion  to 
any  group  of  people,  however  large. 

The  philosophy  of  Anarchism,  however  grot- 
esque its  manifestation  among  ignorant  devotees 
of  high  sounding  phrases,  at  least  has  one  strong 
logical  basis.  Thoreau  and  Tolstoi  both  repudiated 
the  right  of  taxation  on  the  part  of  the  state;  and, 
undoubtedly,  from  the  point  of  view  of  logic,  they 
were  correct  in  the  deduction  that  they  could  not 
justly  be  forced  to  pay  taxes  to  a  state  to  which 
they  had  refused  to  swear  allegiance  and  whose 
benefits  they  were  willing  to  forego.  The  logical 
Anarchist  will  say:  I  was  brought  into  the  state  by 
birth  and  was  made  a  member  of  the  community 
without  my  consent.  Must  I  then  forever  be  denied 
the  right  to  shift  for  myself?  Must  I  remain  an  un- 
willing subject  of  a  state  whose  advantages  I  do  not 
seek?  Have  you  the  right  to  force  me  to  pay  taxes 
to  support  an  institution  from  which  I  am  only  too 
willing  to  withdraw? 

Social  Zionism  presents  a  simple  program.  It 
requires  that  the  "Social  Commonwealth  in  Zion" 
shall  be  a  voluntary  institution.  The  New  Zion  must 


16  SOCIAL  ZIONISM 

have  a  voluntary  co-operative  association  to  safe- 
guard the  economic  interests  of  the  people.  This 
co-operative  association  might  take  the  form  of  a 
Jewish  Industrial  Army,  wherein  citizens  might  en- 
list as  "soldiers  in  industry,"  and  receive  in  addition 
to  a  "living  wage,"  a  share  in  the  profits  of  this  co- 
operative institution.  But  no  one  would  be  com- 
pelled to  spend  his  life-time  in  such  an  industrial 
army,  for  each  would  be  free  to  withdraw  and  en- 
gage in  any  industry,  even  in  competition  with  the 
Industrial  Army.  This  will  give  us  an  interplay 
between  the  forces  of  co-operation  and  individual 
initiative  that  might  prove  to  be  of  great  value. 

It  would  not  abolish  competition,  but  limit  its 
scope  and  raise  its  plane.  The  state  would  say 
to  the  citizen:  you  must  not  barter  your  body  and 
soul  for  the  bread  and  clothing  that  nature  requires, 
even  as  we  refuse  to  sanction  a  contract  for  indi- 
vidual slavery.  The  Co-operative  Industrial  Army, 
will,  automatically,  establish  a  minimum  wage,  for 
then  no  one  will  be  so  foolhardy  as  to  work  for 
smaller  wages,  that  will  not  secure  for  him  at  least 
the  necessaries  of  life. 

At  the  same  time,  by  national  control  over  the 
land  of  Palestine,  the  Jewish  state  will  be  able  to 
regulate  the  economic  system  even  outside  of  the 


INTRODUCTION 


17 


Co-operative  Industrial  Army.  Through  the  instru- 
mentality of  the  Industrial  Army  we  shall  establish 
for  labor  a  minimum  wage,  while  through  state 
control  of  the  land,  we  shall  be  able  to  regulate  the 
maximum  price  for  food,  clothing  and  shelter.  These 
two  complementary  programs  will  automatically 
regulate  the  industrial  system  of  the  new  Jewish 
state,  and  will  guide  us  along  the  road  to  "Social 
Justice." 

Such  a  co-operative  army,  and  state  control 
over  the  land  of  Palestine  would  form  the  pillars 
upon  which  would  be  erected  an  industrial  democ- 
racy in  the  Holy  Land. 

"And  they  shall  build  houses,  and  inhabit 

them; 
"And  they  shall  plant  vineyards,  and  eat  the 

fruit  of  them. 

"They  shall  not  build,  and  another  inhabit, 
"They  shall  not  plant,  and  another  eat; 
"For  as  the  days  of  a  tree  shall  be  the  days 

of  My  people, 
"And  Mine  elect  shall  long  enjoy  the  work 

of  their  hands" — 

(ISAIAH,    Chapter   65 — Verses   21,    22) 


Social   Zionism. 


CHAPTER  1. 

THE  ROLE  OF  NATIONALISM  IN  HISTORY  * 

WE  hear  so  much  of  the  "Brotherhood  of  Man," 
and  we  listen  so  often  to  discourses  on  the 
"Unity  of  Mankind,"  "Universal  Peace,"  and 
on  other  prospects  of  the  distant  future,  that  we  are 
often  apt  to  forget  the  most  important  force  of  the 
living  present.     In  the  national  will  to  live  there  ex- 
ists, to-day,  a  force  which  has  exerted  an  influence 
upon   civilization   so   profound,    that   these   grand 
universal  dreams  seem  but  as  side-issues  when  com- 
pared with  this  invincible  yearning. 

This  desire  for  nationality,  aided  by  the  songs 
of  the  minstrel  and  the  gifted  words  of  the  poet,  has 
its  foundation  in  science.  The  Biologist  tells  us  that 
every  climate  produces  its  characteristic  trees  and 


*)    See  Appendix  A. 


20  SOCIAL  ZIONISM 

fruits;  that  while  we  may  introduce  foreign  seeds 
into  new  localities,  the  result  will  depend,  to  a  very 
large  extent,  on  the  new  environment  —  the  nature 
of  the  soil  and  climate,  and  the  competition  of  other 
plants.  In  short,  while  we  may  transplant  seeds  to 
new  lands,  we  can  do  so  only  within  well-defined 
limits.  Furthermore,  in  nature  —  before  the  hand 
of  man  interferes — we  find  the  fir  tree  in  one  local- 
ity, the  maple  tree  in  another  well-defined  territory, 
and  the  sugar-cane  in  another  environment, 
entirely  distinct  from  the  former. 

In  animal  life  we  find  the  same  situation.  The 
lion  of  Africa  and  the  tiger  of  India  have  certain 
well-defined  kingdoms  of  their  own,  distinct  and 
separate  from  the  quarters  of  the  polar  bear  and 
the  domestic  horse  and  cow.  Within  certain  limits 
we  may  acclimatize  them,  but  they  show  a  strong 
tendency  to  revert  to  the  life  of  their  ancestors. 

1.     The  Primary  Environment  of  Man 

By  the  use  of  clothing,  houses  for  shelter  and 
the  thousands  of  inventions  that  minister  to  the 
needs  of  mankind,  the  highest  class  of  animals  have 
learned  to  adapt  themselves  to  diverse  environ- 
ments. Yet,  even  man,  the  heir  of  the  ages,  is  re- 
stricted to  a  relatively  small  portion  of  the  earth's 


THE  ROLE  OF  NATIONALISM  IN  HISTORY        21 

surface.  Furthermore,  the  places  that  men  occupy 
are  apportioned  among  various  races  —  the  white 
man  cannot  live  and  thrive  in  the  tropics,  and  the 
Esquimaux  perish  in  the  mild  and  inviting  climate 
of  California.  England  has  conquered  a  vast  empire 
in  the  East,  yet  the  sons  of  Britain  fail  to  bring  forth 
a  second  generation  to  inherit  the  riches  of  India. 
America  has  pacified  the  Philippine  Islands,  after  a 
large  expenditure  of  blood  and  money,  yet,  unlike 
the  conquests  in  California  and  Texas,  these  islands 
in  the  Pacific  will  never  be  populated  by  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  and  kindred  races. 

But  these  are  the  restrictions  of  the  primary 
environment  which  nature  imposes.  There  is  an- 
other environment,  made  by  man  himself,  and 
which  may  be  called  the  secondary  environment, 
exerting,  in  the  history  of  the  human  race,  a  far 
larger  influence. 

2.     The  Secondary  Environment 

More  than  three  thousand  years  ago,  tribes  of 
Semites,  while  wandering  in  the  desert  for  forty 
years,  were  welded  together  into  one  nation  by  the 
genius  and  strength  of  a  statesman-prophet.  He 
gave  them  laws  that  made  them  a  chosen  people  — 
separate  and  distinct  from  the  surrounding  nations. 


22  SOCIAL  ZIONISM 

After  a  thousand  and  five  hundred  years  of  national 
existence,  while  heroes  fought,  priests  prayed  and 
prophets  preached,  the  children's  children  of  these 
wanderers  were  solidified  into  a  race  with  a  distinct 
inheritance.  The  destruction  of  their  sacred  temple 
and  the  devastation  of  their  country  once  and  again 
failed  to  exterminate  that  race,  and  for  more  than 
eighteen  centuries  they  have  been  subjected  to  the 
fires  of  persecution  and  the  torments  of  intolerance. 
Yet  have  they  preserved  a  unity  of  type  which 
everyone  instinctively  recognizes  in  the  Jew. 

About  the  time  that  the  Israelites  succumbed  to 
the  mighty  onslaughts  of  Rome,  tall,  light-haired 
barbarians  were  harassing  her  armies  on  the  north- 
ern fringe  of  her  vast  domains,  on  the  banks  of  the 
Rhine  and  the  Danube.  Indeed,  in  a  battle  that  is 
numbered  among  the  decisive  facts  in  history  —  at 
Teutoberg  Forest  —  these  barbarians  stayed  the 
arm  of  the  Eternal  City,  and  the  Germans  were  per- 
mitted full  scope  for  self-development,  unhindered 
by  the  enervating  luxuries  of  Italy.  Through  tur- 
moil and  violence,  through  struggle  and  achieve- 
ment, these  barbarians  began  to  solidify  into  the 
German  nation. 

Five  centuries  after  Arminius  annihilated  the 
Roman  legions  in  the  German  forests,  kinsmen  of 


THE  ROLE  OF  NATIONALISM  IN  HISTORY        23 

the  hardy  warriors  who  followed  him  embarked  in 
their  little  ships  to  conquer  the  island  of  Great  Brit- 
ain. Marauding  bands  harassed  the  coast,  and, 
penetrating  the  interior,  subdued  the  original  inhab- 
itants, reducing  them  to  serfdom.  Under  Canute  the 
Dane  and  William  the  Conquerer,  these  kindred 
races  began  to  assimilate  with  the  Celts  of  Britain 
to  form  the  nation  of  Englishmen,  and  during  the 
following  centuries  their  grandchildren  conquered 
new  lands,  until  the  sun  does  not  set  on  British  soil. 
They  were  the  pioneers  who  created  new  Englands 
in  Canada,  Australia,  and  South  Africa,  and  who 
laid  the  foundation  of  the  American  Republic. 

Now,  we  can  understand  how  the  Israelites 
might  have  been  able  to  occupy  Great  Britain,  and 
how  the  Germans  might  have  patiently  listened  to 
the  teachings  of  Moses  in  the  deserts  of  Sinai,  and 
how  the  English  might  have  struggled  for  centuries 
in  the  disputes  between  the  Empire  and  Papacy.  In 
short,  there  is  no  insuperable  logical  difficulty  in 
supposing  that  the  primary  environment  might 
have  fallen  to  the  lot  of  any  of  these  nations.  But 
the  secondary  environment  created  by  man  —  the 
environment  of  Israel  with  its  priests,  prophets  and 
warrior  kings  (who  wrote  psalms  in  the  intervals  of 
the  Lord's  battles) ,  the  environment  of  the  Teutons 


24  SOCIAL  ZIONISM 

as  they  struggled  in  disunion,  for  generations,  be- 
fore they  succeeded  in  establishing  the  German  na- 
tion, the  environment  of  the  English  sea  robbers, 
while  they  conquered  Britain  and  while  their  sons 
sang  with  pride  "Britannia  Rules  the  Waves,"  as 
they  conquered  the  world's  fairest  provinces — these 
conditions  were  chiefly  instrumental  in  forming  the 
Hebrew,  the  German  and  the  Englishman,  even  as 
the  primary  environment,  belonging  to  all  of  them, 
made  them  White  Men  instead  of  Esquimaux,  Cau- 
casians instead  of  Negroes.  In  short,  while  human- 
ity is  limited  by  a  primary  environment  consisting 
of  soil,  climate  and  physical  situation,  man  is  ever 
evolving  a  secondary  environment  consisting  of  past 
experiences,  present  conditions  and  ideals,  and  aspi- 
rations for  the  future,  which  tend  to  differentiate 
one  group  of  people  from  another. 

History,  when  read  aright,  stands  as  an  ever 
willing  witness  to  sanctify  this  secondary  man- 
created  environment.  From  the  earliest  days,  there 
have  been  dreamers  and  conquerors  who,  each  in 
his  way,  sought  to  reduce  all  mankind  to  one  race — 
to  consolidate  all  peoples  into  one  grand  hodge- 
podge of  humanity.  The  civilization  that  grew  up 
on  the  banks  of  the  Nile  struggled  for  centuries 
with  the  inhabitants  on  the  banks  of  the  Tigris  and 


THE  ROLE  OF  NATIONALISM  IN  HISTORY        25 

Euphrates,  but  neither  Egypt  nor  Assyria  nor  Baby- 
lonia could  establish  a  world-empire.  The  genius 
of  Cyrus  enabled  Persia  to  approach  the  limits  of  a 
world-empire,  but  it  crumbled  before  the  onslaughts 
of  the  Greeks  under  the  boy-genius  of  Macedon. 
Alexander  the  Great  dreamed  of  making  a  Greek 
world-empire,  that  would  be  the  melting-pot  for 
all  nations.  And  yet,  only  twenty  years  after  he  had 
completed  his  splendid  conquests,  the  Empire  of 
Alexander  was  torn  asunder  into  rival  kingdoms. 
Rome  profited  from  the  mistakes  of  all  her  prede- 
cessors, and  the  Queen  City  sought  to  incorporate 
all  foreign  races  as  her  own  children,  so  as  to  assim- 
ilate the  entire  world  into  the  all-inclusive  Roman 
citizenship.  Yet,  the  period  of  the  Roman  Empire 
was  followed  by  the  days  of  Feudalism,  when  almost 
every  hamlet  was  a  distinct  nation  and  every  rob- 
ber-baron an  independent  king. 

Gradually,  the  Kingdoms  of  Western  Europe 
were  formed,  but  neither  Charlemagne  in  the  West 
nor  the  Omars  in  the  East,  fighting  with  the  fanat- 
icism of  the  followers  of  the  Prophet,  could  create, 
over  incongruous  populations,  lasting  empires.  The 
dying  notes  of  the  greatest  attempt  to  create  a 
world-empire  still  ring  in  our  ears,  for  it  is  hardly 
a  century  since  the  greatest  military  genius  of  all 


26  SOCIAL  ZIONISM 

time,  backed  by  the  enthusiasm  of  a  great  nation, 
went  forth  to  realize  the  dream  in  which  Alexander 
and  Caesar  had  failed.  Had  Napoleon  the  Great 
been  as  keen  in  history  as  in  politics  and  war,  he 
would  have  concluded  that  to  amalgamate  all  na- 
tions into  one  world-nation  is  an  impossible  task. 

3.     Cosmopolitanism  and  Internationalism 

Is  there  no  fundamental  principle  at  the  basis 
of  all  this  history  -  -  some  great  tendency  which 
limits  the  conqueror  and  baffles  the  plans  of  those 
who  dream  dreams  of  world-nations?  I  submit  that  it 
is  the  secondary  environment  to  which  we  referred, 
the  artificial  environment  which  man  creates,  which 
forms  the  basis  for  nationality  —  the  national  lan- 
guage, the  national  traditions,  the  racial  type  of 
physique  and  mind,  the  national  charateristics  and 
the  resulting  culture,  and,  finally,  the  national 
religion. 

We  may  agree  that  this  secondary  environment 
has  hitherto  thwarted  the  plans  of  world-empire, 
yet  we  may  justly  ask:  is  it  right,  is  it  good,  that 
nationalism  should  have  triumphed  and  should  con- 
tinue to  triumph  over  the  dreams  of  Universal 
Brotherhood?  There  have  been  numerous  theorists 
and  statesmen  who  have  philosophized  about  the 


THE  ROLE  OF  NATIONALISM  IN  HISTORY        27 

"barriers"  of  nationalism,  and  have  condemmed  the 
unreasoning  prejudices  of  the  mob  that  prevented 
the  rapid  development  of  a  world-empire. 

In  the  Golden  Age  of  Athens,  a  powerful  sect 
labored  for  the  realization  of  a  cosmopolitan  empire 
in  which  all  would  be  Athenian  citizens  with  equal 
rights.  They  called  themselves  the  Stoics.  While 
we  must  admire  their  sincerity  and  strength  of  char- 
acter, their  broad-minded  outlook  on  nearly  every 
subject,  I  want  to  point  out  one  prejudice  which 
should  call  into  question  the  premise  of  which  they 
were  so  proud.  In  Athens,  we  recall,  only  pure 
blooded  Athenians  had  full  political  rights,  while 
foreigners  were  classified  as  barbarians,  to  whom 
was  offered  little  more  besides  trading  privileges. 
The  first  Stoics  were  nearly  all  descendants  of  these 
barbarians,  being  the  offspring  of  Athenians  who 
had  been  corrupted  (as  the  Greeks  believed)  by 
intermarriage  with  foreigners.  Their  children  saw 
the  gates  of  advancement  closed  upon  them  by  un- 
fair laws,  while  they  fully  realized  that,  in  talents 
and  riches,  they  were  not  inferior  to  the  old,  native 
stock.  It  was  only  natural  for  them  to  evolve  a  cos- 
mopolitan philosophy  that  would  include  them  in 
the  scheme  of  life.  I  do  not  wish  to  be  understood 
to  imply  that  the  Stoics  sought,  in  a  selfish  spirit, 


28  SOCIAL  ZIONISM 

to  utilize  philosophy  and  logic  for  their  own  pur- 
pose; but  we  may  conclude  that  dreams  of  cosmo- 
politanism, of  the  virtual  equality  and  unity  of  all 
races,  were  unconsciously  accepted  by  these  step- 
sons of  Athens,  because  their  condition  placed  them 
in  a  receptive  mood  for  such  a  philosophy. 

For  the  sake  of  brevity  we  must  omit  mention 
of  the  many  other  dreams  of  Universalism,  but  we 
cannot  overlook  the  new  philosophy  of  Cosmopoli- 
tanism that  grew  out  of  Socialism.  The  economic 
principles  underlying  the  Socialist  movement  are 
endorsed  by  many  radical  thinkers  who  have  no 
sympathy  with  the  vagaries  of  "class  war"  to  the 
exclusion  of  all  racial  and  national  ideals.  Indeed, 
this  old,  simonpure  Socialist  view,  is  being  rejected 
by  the  Socialists  themselves  in  Germany  and  France, 
and  will,  undoubtedly,  be  repudiated  by  American 
Socialists.  The  founders  of  modern  Socialism,  Karl 
Marx  and  Lassalle,  were  Jews  by  race  —  members 
of  a  nation  that  has  had  to  endure  German  Anti- 
Semitism  for  many  centuries.  They  were  regarded 
as  members  of  an  outcast  people,  and,  with  their 
keen  minds,  the  old  philosophy  of  the  Stoics  ap- 
pealed to  them  as  fair  and  logical.  There  are  no 
nations,  they  reasoned,  and  governments  are  only 
instruments,  artificially  created  by  the  ruling 


THE  ROLE  OF  NATIONALISM  IN  HISTORY        29 

classes,  for  the  oppression  of  the  workers.  Let  us 
pull  down  all  these  barriers  and  make  one  united 
nation,  in  which  there  will  be  no  distinction  between 
German,  Frenchman,  Jew  and  Turk. 

When  this  formula  of  Socialism  became  clear, 
radical  thinkers  like  Mazzini  withdrew  from  their 
ranks,  because  Italy  was  an  ideal  which  he  would 
not  exchange  for  all  the  dreams  of  communism.  In 
one  of  his  most  famous  speeches,  he  declared: 
"Love  your  country.  Your  country  is  the  land  where 
your  parents  sleep,  where  is  spoken  that  language 
in  which  the  chosen  of  your  heart,  blushing,  whis- 
pered the  first  words  of  love;  it  is  the  house  that 
God  has  given  you,  that  by  striving  to  perfect  your- 
selves therein,  you  may  prepare  to  ascend  to  Him. 
It  is  your  name,  your  glory,  your  sign  among  the 
peoples.  Give  to  it  your  thought,  your  counsels, 
your  blood."  And  then:  "Love  humanity.  You  can 
only  ascertain  your  mission  from  the  aim  set  by  God 
before  humanity  at  large.  God  has  given  you  your 
country  as  your  cradle,  and  humanity  as  mother; 
you  cannot  rightly  love  your  brethren  of  the  cradle 
if  you  love  not  the  common  mother.  Beyond  the 
Alps,  beyond  the  sea,  are  other  peoples  now  fight- 
ing, or  preparing  to  fight,  the  holy  fight  of  inde- 


30 


SOCIAL  ZIONISM 


pendence,  of  nationality,  of  liberty;  other  peoples 
striving  by  different  routes  to  reach  the  same  goal." 
Mazzini,  the  poet-orator,  saw  clearly  the  scope 
and  value  of  nationalism,  and  we  of  to-day  are  put- 
ting into  scienific  expression  the  ideals  of  Mazzini, 
the  Italian,  of  Gambetta,  the  Frenchman,  of  Hess, 
the  German  —  most  of  them  of  Jewish  blood.  The 
theory  which  is  now  being  clothed  in  scientific  for- 
mula has  no  quarrel  with  Nationalism.  On  the  con- 
trary, it  is  based  on  the  historic  claims  that  Nation- 
alism has  been  of  large  value  in  every  upward  step 
of  civilization.  It  is  the  theory  of  Internationalism 
as  opposed  to  the  theory  of  Cosmopolitanism.  While 
the  latter  assumes  that  the  future  will  bring  forth 
a  world-empire  formed  by  the  mixture  of  hetero- 
geneous nations  and  races,  Internationalism  holds 
forth  the  prospect  of  a  noble  synthesis  of  nations — 
a  grand  harmony  in  the  world  symphony,  in  which 
every  nation  will  lend  its  distinctive  note  to  blend 
with  the  music  of  all.  Not  to  destroy  nations  would 
be  its  aim,  but  to  glorify  all  races  of  mankind.  In- 
stead of  a  kingdom  or  World  Republic  composed  of 
individuals  of  a  uniform  type,  we  Internationalists 
have  the  vision  of  a  great  United  States  of  the 
World,  in  which  every  State  —  with  its  own  peculiar 
people,  language,  character  and  culture  —  would 


THE  ROLE  OF  NATIONALISM  IN  HISTORY        31 

unite  with  all  the  others  in  the  ever-lasting  war  for 
righteousness  and  social  justice. 

4.     Nationalism  and  Internationalism 

We  do  not  say  to  the  Chinaman:  come  with  us, 
intermarry  with  our  people,  and  then  we  shall  evolve 
a  uniform  type,  thoroughly  assimilated,  in  which 
prejudice  can  have  no  place.  We  do  not  invite  the 
extermination  of  races  and  the  self-effacement  of 
nationalitites  in  order  to  secure  toleration  and  re- 
spect. But  we  say  to  Chinaman,  Russian,  Negro, 
Italian,  German,  Frenchman  and  Jew:  develop  to 
the  utmost  limit  your  distinctive  traits,  your  char- 
acteristic culture,  and  solve  your  own  peculiar  prob- 
lems —  religious,  social  and  political  —  in  your  own 
peculiar  way,  unhindered  by  the  interference  of 
other  nations.  But  over  and  above  the  ties  of 
patriotism,  which  bind  you  to  your  native  land  and 
the  heritage  of  your  forefathers,  is  the  claim  of 
humanity,  which  can  be  satisfied  only  when  all  the 
inhabitants  of  every  nation  become  brothers,  in 
sister  states,  of  the  United  States  of  the  World. 
Then,  in  this  higher  unity,  which  permits  large 
scope  for  the  development  of  each  nationality,  with 
its  characteristic  physical  type,  language  and  cul- 


32  SOCIAL  ZIONISM 

ture,  we  shall  achieve  the  "Brotherhood  of  Man," 
the  "Sisterhood  of  States"  and  "Universal  Peace." 

Need  I  indicate  the  application  of  these  prin- 
ciples to  the  Jewish  question?  To  us  Zionists  it  is 
sufficiently  clear  that  we  Jews  are  entitled  to  rep- 
resentation not  only  in  the  "Brotherhood  of  Man," 
but,  as  an  entity,  in  the  "Sisterhood  of  States." 
The  striking  tendency  in  modern  history  is  the 
growth  of  Empires,  Federal  Governments  and  Con- 
federations, in  which  ample  opportunity  is  offered 
for  autonomous  states  and  national  self-develop- 
ment. We  Zionists  demand  that  in  the  World  Re- 
public of  the  future  the  Jews  shall  take  their  stand 
not  merely  as  so  many  million  individuals,  without 
union  or  common  traditions,  purposes  and  ideals,  but 
as  an  integral  sister  state,  with  a  prospect  for  the 
"self-realization  of  Israel."  To  all  the  Jews  of  the 
diaspora,  such  a  Jewish  Commonwealth  would  be 
the  nucleus  for  a  Jewish  Renaissance,  that  will 
usher  in  the  New  Jerusalem. 


CHAPTER  2. 

I.*) 
oA  SOCIAL  COMMONWEALTH  IN  Z.ION 

ASocial  Commonwealth  is  an  organization  of 
a  social  group  in  which  each  individual  citi- 
zen is  assured  of  sufficient  satisfaction  of  the 
physical  needs  of  existence  and  of  an  economic  sur- 
plus that  makes  possible  the  attainment  of  higher 
ideals.  The  leaders  in  modern  thought  have  come 
to  realize  that  there  are  certain  physical  conditions 
indispensable  to  true  liberty.  Just  in  so  far  as  a 
dweller  of  a  city  slum  has  been  deprived  of  oppor- 
tunities which  he  might  have  had  under  a  better 
social  system,  he  is  not  free — he  is  the  slave  of  the 
Social  System  of  his  day.  The  frugal  and  industri- 
ous employee  in  the  sweatshop,  who  must  run  his 
machine  or  face  his  starving  family,  is  not  legally  a 
slave.  That  has  been  abolished  since  the  American 
civil  war;  but,  chained  to  his  environment,  a  serf  to 
his  machine,  he  is,  in  fact,  a  slave. 

The  negro  slaves  of  half  a  century  ago  worked 
in  healthful  fields,  received  rations,  and  rude  huts 


»)    See  Appendix  B. 


34  SOCIAL  ZIONISM 

for  shelter.  The  wage  slaves  of  our  city  slums  to- 
day, probably  exceeding  in  number  the  negroes 
before  the  Civil  War,  should  be  thankful  for  the  im- 
munities which  they  enjoy  and  of  which  the  down- 
trodden negro  was  deprived.  Yet,  for  the  fields  of 
cotton  have  been  substituted  unhealthful  factories; 
for  the  rations  and  the  hut  of  the  negro  a  pittance 
of  wages.  The  submerged  tenth  are  not  free,  unless 
freedom  be  compatible  with  slavery.  They  lack  op- 
portunity and  the  power  to  change  then-  position  — 
the  essential  ingredients  of  liberty.  Dependent  on 
others  for  mere  physical  existence,  how  can  they  be 
free  in  the  higher  things  of  life? 

1.     The  Physical  Basis  of  Ideals 

A  scholastic  philosopher  of  the  Mediaeval 
Church  might  have  made  some  important  deduc- 
tions from  certain  acts  of  Jehovah  as  recorded  in 
the  Old  Testament.  When  the  Children  of  Israel 
went  forth  from  Egypt,  they  wandered  for  forty 
years  in  the  Desert,  supported  directly  from  the 
bounty  of  the  Lord.  The  All- Wise  understood  that 
a  nation  of  slaves  can  be  converted  into  freemen 
only  after  they  have  become  independent  of  the  tyr- 
anny of  physical  want.  In  His  beneficent  wisdom, 


A  SOCIAL  COMMONWEALTH  IN  ZION 


35 


He  sent  them  manna  from  the  Heavens  to  satisfy 
the  craving  for  food,  so  that  the  Chosen  People 
might  have  the  leisure  and  the  inclination  to  pursue 
higher  things.  God  knew  that,  in  itself,  the  Exodus 
did  not  convert  slaves  into  freemen;    that  Liberty 
means  more  than  emancipation,  more  than  the  mere 
negative  process  of  breaking  old  chains.  True  liberty 
is  a  positive  concept,  and  only  after  the  brethren  of 
Moses  had  been  freed  from  the  inexorable  physical 
needs  were  they  really  free  to  follow  the  laws  of  the 
Almighty.  Therefore,  might  the  church  philosopher 
justly  conclude:  "We  mortals  should  profit  from  the 
deeds  of  the  Eternal.   The  supreme  function  of  gov- 
ernment, as  revealed  to  us  through  the  works  of 
the  Lord,  should  be  to  endeavor  continually  and  per- 
sistently to  provide  for  the  physical  wants  of  the 
citizens."   Only  after  we  have  removed  the  despot- 
ism of  physical  needs  can  we  succeed  in  building  a 
higher  self,  a  better  and  nobler  type  of  man. 

In  our  own  days,  it  was  a  scientist,  and  not  a 
scholastic  philosopher,  who  advanced  an  analogous 
theory.  Professor  Patten  (of  the  University  of 
Pennsylvania)  announced,  as  the  mandate  of  sci- 
ence, that  true  freedom  is  incompatible  with  ex- 
treme poverty.  To  him  the  most  hopeful  sign  of 
civilization  is  the  fact  that  mankind  to-day  has  a 


36  SOCIAL  ZIONISM 

greater  amount  of  capital,  a  larger  surplus  with 
which  to  satisfy  physical  needs,  than  in  former  ages. 
Civilization  and  progress  are  the  superstructures 
resting  on  the  foundation  of  this  economic  surplus. 
The  beauties  of  art  and  the  wonders  of  science  are 
possible  in  so  far  as  we  are  freed  from  the  deaden- 
ing power  of  physical  needs.  In  accordance  with  this 
logical  proposition,  the  aim  of  society  should  ever  be 
to  increase  the  economic  surplus,  ever  to  endeavor 
to  relieve  the  individual  citizen  from  the  tyranny  of 
physical  want.  In  the  province  of  art,  religion,  mor- 
als and  taste  the  State  should  give  the  individual 
all  freedom;  but,  in  order  to  promote  this  freedom 
and  make  of  it  more  than  a  mere  hollow  phrase,  it 
must  be  the  main  function  of  the  government  to 
increase  the  economic  surplus  in  the  nation  and  to 
secure  the  independence  of  the  citizen  from  the 
material  needs  of  existence.    Solely  from  the  point 
of  view  of  utility,  must  Socialism  and  "Laissez- 
faire"  be  judged.    That   economic   system  is  just, 
equitable  and  desirable  which  will  enable  the  nation 
to  realize  a  larger  economic  surplus,  so  distributed 
as  to  open  larger  opportunities  for  the  fulfilment  of 
the  higher  desires  and  motives  —  as  art,  morals, 
etc.  —  in  the  life  of  the  individual. 


A  SOCIAL  COMMONWEALTH  IN  ZION  37 

2.     The  Question  of  State  Interferenc^ 

This  brings  up,  directly,  the  question  of  state 
interference  —  the  most  difficult  problem  of  consti- 
tutional law,  the  question  that  continually  vexes  the 
mind  of  the  political  philosopher.  The  question  how 
far  the  state  ought  to  interfere  with  the  conduct  of 
the  individual  citizen,  how  far  it  should  limit  the 
scope  of  his  interests,  is  the  supreme  problem  in 
Political  Science.  But  with  the  opening  of  the  in- 
dustrial revolution  in  the  latter  half  of  the  Eigh- 
teenth Century  ,it  has  become  also  the  most  com- 
plicated political  and  social  problem  of  modern 
times.  Throughout  the  Nineteenth  Century,  the 
theory  of  "Laissez-faire"  struggled  with  the  Social- 
ist ideal  of  a  regulated  commonwealth,  and,  in  the 
first  decade  of  the  Twentieth  Century,  such  ques- 
tions as  Railroad  Rate  Regulation,  the  Conservation 
of  Natural  Resources  and  the  proper  control  of  Pub- 
lic Utilities  prove  that  questions  of  state  interfer- 
ence are  uppermost  in  the  minds  of  men. 

Indeed,  the  history  of  the  last  century  and  a 
half  shows  repeated  efforts  made,  in  decade  after 
decade,  to  define  the  scope  of  state  interference. 
Each  age  endeavors  to  settle  this  question  accord- 
ing to  its  own  light,  only  to  find  it  reversed  in  the 


38  SOCIAL  ZIONISM 

succeeding  years.  For,  state  interference  must  ever 
remain  a  problem  for  each  generation  to  solve 
anew,  guided  by  its  own  light,  under  the  peculiar 
conditions  of  the  times.  There  is  no  charmed  circle 
around  individual  rights  which  may  not  be  crossed 
by  state  interference.  Liberty  is  not  a  static  term 
but  a  dynamic  concept  —  "A  path  of  progress." 
Individual  liberty  is  not  a  negative  term  but  a  posi- 
tive power,  and  the  state  may  do  much  to  enhance 
that  power  by  enlarging  opportunities  and  removing 
the  burdens  from  the  less  fortunate  in  the  struggle 
for  existence. 

In  any  existing  society,  it  is  next  to  impossible 
to  determine,  impartially,  the  question  of  state  in- 
terference. Is  any  particular  extension  of  govern- 
ment endeavor  in  the  United  States  beneficial  to  the 
people  and  conducive  to  true  individual  liberty  ? 
The  moment  the  question  is  put  we  have  the  diverse 
answers  not  only  of  unprejudiced  scientists,  but  also 
the  insidious  attempts  to  befog  the  issue  on  the  part 
of  certain  classes,  commonly  called  the  "special 
interests."  A  complete  program  of  social  reform, 
affecting  the  amelioration  of  the  condition  of  the 
poorer  classes  and  involving  fundamental  changes  in 
the  social  order,  must  meet  the  powerful  opposition 
of  vested  interests.  Recall  the  "June  days,"  of  1848, 


A  SOCIAL  COMMONWEALTH  IN  ZION  39 

in  Paris,  and  the  establishment  of  the  French  Re- 
public, in  1871,  to  understand  how  difficult  in  mod- 
ern states  is  the  task  of  the  social  reformer.  In 
short,  wherever  and  whenever  any  steps  in  social 
evolution  tend  to  jeopardize  the  profits  or  the  privi- 
leges of  the  so-called  upper  classes  there  is  a  con- 
flict which  retards  social  progress. 

3.     Building  the  House  of  Israel 

The  case  is  different  with  a  proposed  state. 
You  will  find  no  strong  opposition  party  to 
a  scheme  for  an  Industrial  Democracy  in 
some  far-off  land.  The  self-interest  of  the 
captains  of  industry  is  not  affected,  and,  ac- 
cordingly such  an  experiment  is  regarded  merely 
as  a  harmless  Utopia.  For  example,  the  Zionist 
movement  has  created  the  Jewish  National  Fund, 
which,  carried  to  its  logical  conclusion,  means  the 
approval  of  the  principle  of  nationalization  of  the 
Jewish  land.  Yet  we  hear  nothing  but  praise  for  the 
National  Fund,  simply  because  there  are  no  large 
vested  interests  in  the  soil  of  Palestine.  Among  the 
many  disadvantages  of  expatriation  from  the  Jewish 
land,  there  is  at  least  one  advantage,  namely,  that, 
in  constructing  our  state,  we  may  avoid  the  clash  be- 
tween the  selfish  interests  and  the  public  welfare,  and 


40  SOCIAL  ZIONISM 

build  our  community  in  a  true  scientific  spirit,  divorced 
from  the  greed  of  materialism. 

The  outrages  committed  in  the  name  of  liberty, 
the  wrongs  perpetrated  under  the  guise  of  frater- 
nity, are  not  the  necessary  concomitants  of  Revolu- 
tion. They  are  merely  the  manifestations  of  the 
spirit  of  destruction  which  usually  precedes  the 
period  of  construction  in  every  revolution.  Any  fun- 
damental reform  in  modern  states  means  first  a 
tearing  down  of  old  institutions  before  the  rearing 
of  the  new.  It  is  the  resistance  of  the  old,  and  not  so 
much  the  innovation  itself,  that  makes  any  revolu- 
tion so  difficult. 

But  in  establishing  a  new  commonwealth,  the 
struggle  over  the  old  intrenched  political  and  social 
.system  is  eliminated.  Where  others  have  had  to 
destroy  and  rebuild,  we  shall  have  only  to  build. 
Like  a  man  with  no  piece  of  land  to  call  his  own, 
we  are  "a  people  of  air":  but  when  we  secure  the 
plot  upon  which  to  build  the  House  of  Israel,  we 
shall  not  be  compelled  to  tear  to  the  ground  our 
former  habitation.  Profiting  by  the  experiences  of 
former  ages  and  diverse  nations,  we  shall  be  free 
to  erect  a  Home  for  the  Jewish  people  —  a  house 
that  shall  be  artistic  and  stable,  good  to  behold  and 
a  glory  to  inhabit. 


A  SOCIAL  COMMONWEALTH  IN  ZION  4i 

Our  critics  may  bid  us  wait  until  we  shall  have 
obtained  the  land  before  making  plans  and  speci- 
fications for  the  structure  to  be  erected,  but  the 
shrewd  investor  never  buys  before  ascertaining  how 
the  land  may  be  utilized.  Furthemore,  it  will  appear 
that  the  success  of  our  movement  depends,  in  a 
large  measure,  on  a  thorough  understanding  of  the 
kind  of  state  we  shall  build.  Do  we  desire  that  it 
should  rest  upon  the  shifting  sands  of  petty  politics? 
Then  our  task  may  be  very  difficult  and  at  the  same 
time  of  doubtful  value.  If  our  aim  is  to  create  a 
social-moral  community  of  Jews  —  a  true  common- 
wealth —  in  Palestine,  then  our  task  is  simpler,  and 
our  structure  will  abide.  The  lessons  of  history  and 
the  experiences  of  other  nations  may  teach  us  how 
to  build,  on  a  foundation  of  solid  rock,  a  house  of 
many  beauties,  towering  to  the  skies.  The  architect, 
in  constructing  a  mansion,  acquaints  himself  not 
only  with  the  tastes  of  his  patron,  but  also  with  the 
works  of  the  great  masters  and  the  teachings  of 
experience.  So  must  the  great  statesman  —  the 
builder  of  states — profit  by  the  experiences  of  by- 
gone ages  and  by  the  history  of  nations. 

4.     The  Social  Period  in  History 

The  French  Revolution  is  regarded,  justly,  as 
the  turning  point  in  modern  history,  when  a  new 


42  SOCIAL  ZIONISM 

element  ,  hitherto  ignored,  manifested  itself  in 
human  society.  Previous  to  the  French  Reolvution, 
the  political  aspect  of  history  was  predominant.  The 
French  Revolution  emphasized  the  social  aspect. 
With  the  wonderful  growth  of  industry  and  science, 
with  the  development  of  Socialism  and  the  human- 
itarian movements  for  the  amelioration  of  the  con- 
dition of  the  poor,  the  social  aspect  has  become 
increasingly  important,  until  to-day  the  political  ele- 
ment is  subordinated  to  the  social  element  In  his- 
tory. Indeed,  an  examination  of  the  lives  of  the  vast 
majority  of  the  citizens  of  any  country,  will  show 
how  insignificant  politics  is  by  the  side  of  business 
and  social  intercourse.  If  the  voter  devotes  part  of 
one  day  each  year  to  politics,  by  far  the  largest 
share  of  his  energy  and  brain  power  is  expended 
upon  the  satisfaction  of  the  material  needs  of  life. 
Even  politics  itself  is  being  transformed  from 
questions  of  sovereignty  and  political  rights  to 
those  of  social  reform  and  the  regulation  of  wealth. 
England  is  more  interested  in  the  Lloyd-George 
Budget  than  in  party  politics,  and  even  "Votes  for 
Women"  are  being  demanded,  because,  so  we  are 
told,  women  take  a  greater  interest  in  the  protection 
of  the  working  class,  the  abolition  of  child  labor 
and  the  increase  of  education  for  the  young.  In 


A  SOCIAL  COMMONWEALTH  IN  ZION  43 

short,  we  are  viewing  our  political  system  as  an 
adjunct  of  our  social  system  —  as  a  sort  of  safety 
valve  to  regulate  the  engine  of  social  progress. 

Let  me  not  be  misunderstood.  I  am  not  urging 
that  economic  welfare  is  more  important  than  the 
achievements  in  Arts  and  Science.  But  we  must 
all  agree  tliat  irrespective  of  the  question  of  relative 
importance,  material  welfare  must,  ordinarily,  pre- 
cede development  in  the  higher  walks  of  life.  The 
necessary  foundation  upon  which  the  beautiful 
superstructure  of  enlightment  may  be  reared  is 
economics. 

In  short,  we  are  living  in  a  commercial  age, 
when  politics  is  subordinated  to  the  interests  of 
industry.  A  community  freed  from  economic  despot- 
ism is  the  only  community  of  free  men.  We  are 
ready  to  take  the  next  step  in  social  evolution  — 
from  the  political  democracy  to  the  industrial 
democracy. 

The  Zionist  movement  is  particularly  fortunate 
in  that  it  has  been  born  in  a  period  of  transition 
from  the  political  to  the  economic  democracy.  The 
efforts  of  the  Poale  Zion,  of  so-called  "Practical 
Zionism,"  and,  finally,  the  co-operative  farming 
schemes  in  Palestine  have  disposed  us  to  a  favor- 
able consideration  of  Social  Zionism. 


44 


SOCIAL  ZIONISM 


II.*) 


History  tells  us  that  our  goal  is  attainable. 
The  obstacles  that  may  be  encountered,  at  the  out- 
set, cannot  be  greater  than  the  difficulties  of  the 
English  East  India  Company  when  it  commenced 
the  stupendous  task  of  conquering  an  empire.  Be- 
ginning with  two  or  three  trade  outposts,  in  India, 
in  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century,  it  suc- 
ceeded, within  the  short  space  of  half  a  century,  in 
acquiring  supreme  commercial  and  political  power 
over  a  population  of  many  millions.  The  East  India 
Company  relied  exclusively  upon  commercial  con- 
cessions and  built  the  grand  structure  of  a  British 
Empire  in  India  upon  the  basis  of  trade  and  in- 
dustry. Unfortunately  for  its  own  good  name,  it 
was  later  transformed  into  a  political  instrument, 
and  lost  the  profits  and  the  honors  that  would  have 
fallen  to  its  share.  Our  task  is  much  simpler.  We 
are  not  seeking  for  sovereign  power  over  alien 
peoples.  We  are  not  striving  for  the  plunder  of 
prostrate  provinces  nor  for  political  control  over 
immense  territories.  We  are  laboring  to  rejuvenate 


»)     See  Appendix  C. 


A  SOCIAL  COMMONWEALTH  IN  ZION  45 

a  nation,  not  to  rule  over  subject  races.  Let  us  keep 
well  within  the  limits  of  social  and  economic 
activities  and  we  may  profit  from  the  experience  of 
the  Great  English  East  India  Company. 

The  program  of  Social  Zionism  can  be  achieved 
through  the  instrumentality  of  an  American 
corporation,  to  be  organized  for  the  economic  and 
social  development  of  Palestine.  The  capital  secured 
from  American  Jews  for  such  a  company  would  not 
be  a  heavy  charge  on  Palestinian  development,  for 
shares  of  the  company  would  be  sold  not  for 
speculative  profits  in  the  interests  of  its  subscribers, 
but,  primarily,  for  the  upbuilding  of  a  Jewish 
Commonwealth.  There  are  already  several  examples 
in  the  Zionist  Movement  of  business  corporations, 
organized,  primarily,  not  for  profit-making,  but  for 
service  in  Palestine.  The  Palestine  Land  Develop- 
ment Company,  as  an  illustration,  provides  that 
the  voting  control  shall  be  vested  in  a  number  of 
"Founders'  Shares,"  which  are  held  by  prominent 
Zionists,  who  act  practically  as  the  trustees,  so  as 
to  make  sure  that  the  company  shall  not  become 
a  scheme  merely  for  securing  profits.  This  provision 
compels  a  consideration  of  the  broader  Jewish 
interests,  while  shrewd  business  management  is 
encouraged,  because  of  the  profits  that  might 


46 


SOCIAL  ZIONISM 


accrue  to  individual  shareholders.    In  like  manner, 
provision  might  be  made,  whereby  the  voting  control 
of  the  American  Palestine  Company  would  vest  in 
the   World  Zionist  Organization   or   its   American 
branch,  while  the  business  interests  would  be  safe- 
guarded  by  the   provision   that   the   shareholders 
would  participate  in  the  profits.  Such  an  "American 
Palestine  Company"    should   restrict   its   activities 
entirely  to  economic  enterprises   in   the    Land   of 
Israel  and  eschew  all  purely  political  projects.     It 
might  well  begin  its  operations  for  extensive  land 
purchases  in  Palestine  and  the  fostering  of  a  system 
of  far  reaching  co-operation  in  the  marketing  of  the 
agricultural   products    of   the   Jewish    farmers    of 
Palestine.    But    in    order    to    secure    lasting    and 
beneficent  results,  we  must  look  upon  the  plan  of 
co-operative    farm-colonies    as   the    beginning,    and 
not  as  the  end  of  our  social  structure.    It  must  be  the 
foundation  stone,    not  the  tower,    of  the  "House  of 
Israel."    With  the  organization  of  a  co-operative 
society  of  farmers,  we  can  take  the  next  step  in 
social    evolution.      We    can    utilize    the    farmers' 
organization    as    the    corner-stone    of    a    social 
commonwealth  consisting  of  men  who  shall  be  free 
in  their  industrial  life,  as  well  as  in  their  social 
activities. 


A  SOCIAL  COMMONWEALTH  IN  ZION 


47 


How  can  this  be  accomplished?  We  would  first 
transform  this  co-operative  organization  of  farmers 
into  an  industrial  and  financial  agency  for  the  up- 
building of  a  Hebrew  Social  Commonwealth.  The 
change  may  seem  simple,  but  its  effects  would  be 
revolutionary.  Instead  of  restricting  itself  to  the 
sale  of  certain  products  and  the  purchase  of 
machinery,  the  co-operative  association  would 
undertake  also  activities: — (1)  for  the  manufacture 
of  certain  articles  that  could,  with  profit,  be  pro- 
duced in  Palestine;  (2)  for  the  development  of 
commerce  and  of  transportation  facilities;  and 
finally,  (3)  for  the  development  of  public  utilities 
on  a  large  scale. 

5.     A  Social  Commonwealth 

What  are  to  be  the  chief  policies  of  the  Com- 
pany in  the  upbuilding  of  a  social  commonwealth? 
The  first  principle  should  be  the  introduction,  in 
some  form,  of  the  Jubilee  year,  as  an  integral  part 
of  our  system.  No  single  provision  of  our  ancient 
law  has  been  praised  so  much  as  this  simple  regula- 
tion, prohibiting  the  alienation  of  real  property.  The 
conservative  economist  unites  with  the  radical 
advocate  of  the  "Single  Tax"  in  approving  the  old 
Hebrew  Law  which  compelled  the  restitution  of 


48  SOCIAL  ZIONISM 

lands  to  the  original  owner  every  fiftieth  year.  Any 
Hebrew  commonwealth  would  be  false  to  its  own 
past  if  it  failed  to  incorporate  the  spirit  of  such  a 
law  as  the  foundation-stone  of  its  polity. 

No  individual  should  be  permitted  to  own  land 
as  personal  property.  There  should  be  only  estates 
in  land,  limited,  in  the  case  of  agricultural  lands, 
so  as  to  be  restricted  to  farming  uses  only,  and  in 
the  case  of  all  other  lands,  to  leases  not  exceeding 
seven  years.  At  the  expiration  of  each  lease,  the 
paramount  owner  —  the  Company  —  would  either 
lease  the  lands  to  the  same  or  other  residents  or 
retain  them  for  its  own  use.  Any  farmer,  who  is 
the  present  owner  of  the  land  he  occupies,  would 
be  permitted  to  join  the  association  on  surrendering 
his  lands  to  the  Company,  and  he  would  be  paid 
therefor  in  shares  of  the  Company,  according 
to  the  assessed  value  of  the  lands.  Furthermore, 
he  would  be  permitted  to  remain  in  undisputed 
possession  of  his  estate,  contingent  on  the  payment 
of  a  portion  of  his  annual  produce  from  the  lands 
so  occupied  by  him.  Farms  which  the  Company 
might  purchase  (or  secure  under  long  term  leases 
from  the  Jewish  National  Fund)  would  be  utilized 
in  apportioning  small  farms  among  competent  Jew- 
ish laborers,  who  would  pay  a  certain  portion  of  the 


A  SOCIAL  COMMONWEALTH  IN  ZION 


49 


produce  as  an  annual  tax.  This  would  be,  in 
essence,  an  income  tax  as  well  as  a  "single  tax" 
on  land,  since  the  occupant  would  pay  rent  pro- 
portionate to  his  income  and  a  tax  on  the  value 
of  his  occupied  land.  One  important  provision 
would  follow,  as  a  corollary,  namely,  that  land  not 
profitably  utilized  by  the  occupant  would  revert  to 
the  Company. 

We  now  come  to  the  cardinal  feature  that  will 
transform  the  mere  co-operative  agricultural  as- 
sociation into  a  large  industrial  corporation  for  the 
upbuilding  of  a  social  commonwealth.  The  Company 
will  act  not  only  as  an  agency  for  farmers  but  also 
as  a  financial  and  industrial  instrument  for  the 
development  of  the  lands  under  its  control.  The 
Company  should  enact,  as  one  of  its  by-laws,  a 
measure  restricting  the  occupation  and  develop- 
ment of  lands  by  individuals  for  any  other  purpose 
than  farming.  Thus,  mining  lands,  city  dwellings, 
as  well  as  lands  and  buildings  to  be  used  for 
manufacture  and  commerce  should  not  be  permit- 
ted to  remain  in  the  hands  of  private  individuals 
for  the  purpose  of  speculation,  but  must  be  either 
owned  and  operated  by  the  Company  itself  or  leased 
to  individuals,  at  public  auction,  for  terms  not 
exceeding  seven  years.  By  this  method,  individual 


50  SOCIAL  ZIONISM 

initiative  would  not  be  excluded  from  economic 
activity,  while  the  unearned  increment  of  land 
values,  due  to  the  growth  of  population  and  wealth, 
would  fall  to  the  share  of  the  Company.  The  latter 
would  engage  in  many  and  diverse  activities,  not  to 
the  exclusion  of,  but  in  competition  with  individual 
initiative. 

The  guiding  principle  of  all  industrial  activity 
of  the  company  should  be  not  monopolization,  but 
rather  concentration.  It  should  not  attempt  to  de- 
stroy all  vestiges  of  the  competitive  system  in 
industry  and  commerce,  but  rather  to  permit  such 
individual  enterprises  even  in  competition  with  the 
efforts  of  the  Company.  Whenever  the  Company 
shall  conclude  that  it  can,  with  profit  to  itself  and 
with  advantage  to  the  community  at  large,  under- 
take a  certain  business  --  whether  it  be  the  manu- 
facture of  shoes,  the  transportation  of  goods  by 
land  or  sea,  the  export  of  fruits  or  any  other 
economic  activity  -  -  it  should  not  be  hindered  by 
any  false  cry  of  Socialism  or  Communism.  We  can 
have  no  valid  objection  to  the  multifarious  activities 
of  the  Company,  for  it  shall  not  aim  at  complete 
monopolization  of  industry.  The  individual  will 
not  become  a  mere  cog  in  a  socialist  wheel.  On  the 
contrary,  the  competition  of  individuals  residing  in 


A  SOCIAL  COMMONWEALTH  IN  ZION 


51 


the  district  would  tend  to  keep  the  company  in  a 
state  of  efficiency,  and  there  would  always  be  ample 
opportunity  for  individual  activity  in  lines  demand- 
ing certain  personal  qualifications — as  the  editor 
of  a  newspaper  or  a  magazine,  the  actor,  the  artist, 
the  orator  and,  in  general,  any  individual  with 
peculiar  aptitude  for  his  calling,  whether  in  a  bus- 
iness, trade  or  profession. 

Furthermore,  the  Company  would  promote  the 
growth  of  a  society  which  would  encourage  the  ac- 
cumulation of  surplus  capital,  since  the  share- 
holders of  the  Company  would  profit  from  its 
successful  ventures,  and  these  shareholders  might 
differ  widely  in  the  amount  of  their  investments. 
In  this  connection,  we  should  provide  that,  after 
the  first  one  million  dollars  ($1,000,000)  of  shares, 
none  but  residents  on  its  lands  might  be  share- 
holders of  the  Company,  so  as  to  restrict  the  profits 
to  those  most  interested  in  the  development  of  the 
country.  The  amount  of  authorized  capital  stock 
of  the  Company  should  be  very  large  (ten  million 
or  twenty  million  dollars),  so  as  to  offer  opportuni- 
ties for  every  resident  to  invest  his  savings  in  the 
stock  of  the  Company.  (The  Jewish  Colonial  Trust 
and  sympathetic  Jews  outside  of  Palestine  might 
aid  the  Company  by  subscribing  to  its  bonds.) 


52  SOCIAL  ZIONISM 

We  shall  create  an  organization  wherein  the 
individual  will  work  independently  as  a  farmer, 
while  all  will  unite  in  a  large  corporation  for  the 
purpose  of  mutual  aid,  of  manufacture  and 
commerce. 

It  might  be  urged  that  such  a  system  would 
result  in  making  wage-slaves  of  the  factory  hands 
and  of  the  merchant  clerks,  while  the  farmers  would 
form  an  aristocracy,  analogus  to  the  feudal  lords 
of  old.  But  such  a  view  neglects  the  important 
consideration  that  nearly  all  industry  is  now  under 
the  control  of  consolidated  wealth,  and  if  we  are  re- 
stricted to  a  choice  of  masters,  in  preference  to 
absentee  millionaires,  it  might  be  advisable  to  se- 
lect farmers,  who  have  a  deep  interest  in  the  wel- 
fare of  their  neighbors.  Furthermore,  each  worker 
will  have  an  equal  opportunity  with  the  farmer  to 
purchase  shares  in  the  Company,  and  may,  there- 
fore, become  one  of  the  masters  of  the  corporation 
on  a  par  with  the  tiller  of  the  soil. 

The  advantage  of  such  a  corporation,  organized 
for  industry  and  commerce  as  well  as  for  agri- 
cultural co-operation,  is  evident.  It  will  enable  us  to 
construct,  a  community  that  might  be  economically 
self-sufficient  —  that  will  be  more  than  a  mere 
hinterland  for  Europe.  We  might  be  able  to  develop 


A  SOCIAL  COMMONWEALTH  IN  ZION  53 

certain  manufactures  and  make  Palestine  the  great 
trade  centre  to  which  its  geographic  position  en- 
titles it.  In  all  such  commercial  and  industrial 
efforts,  a  large  corporation  will  have  a  tremendous 
advantage  over  an  aggregation  of  competing  indi- 
viduals, and  will  increase  enormously  the  financial 
powers  of  the  commonwealth. 

6.     Profit  Sharing  in  Palestine 

Finally,  we  must  devise  a  thorough-going  profit 
sharing  system,  if  we  are  to  develop  a  true  common- 
wealth. The  term  "commonwealth"  has  been  so 
frequently  misused  that,  in  everyday  speech,  it  has 
become  synonymus  with  state  and  government.  It 
is  high  time  to  revive  its  old  significance  —  the 
common-wealth,  or  the  wealth  that  is  common  to 
all  members  of  the  community  —  the  rights, 
privileges,  and  duties  of  free  men  to  lead  a  life  of 
self-realization,  in  economics  as  well  as  in  politics, 
in  material  welfare  even  as  in  religious  opinions. 

Many  are  the  plans  that  might  be  suggested 
for  the  purpose  of  securing  to  the  workers  a  just 
share  of  the  profits  of  their  industry,  but  perhaps 
the  simple  plan  presented  below  would  prove  just 
and  adequate. 


54  SOCIAL  ZIONISM 

Whenever  all  the  profits  of  the  Company  (after 
deducting  a  certain  portion  for  a  replacement  fund) 
should  amount  to  two  per  cent,  or  less,  on  the  capi«- 
tal  stock,  then  all  of  such  profits  must  be  divided 
among  the  shareholders.  Furthermore,  seventy-five 
per  cent  of  all  profits  between  two  per  cent  and  four 
per  cent,  fifty  per  cent  of  all  profits  between  four 
per  cent  and  six  per  cent,  and  twenty-five  per  cent 
of  all  profits  above  six  per  cent  should  be 
apportioned  as  dividends  in  proportion  to  the 
shares  held  by  each  resident.  The  remainder 
of  the  dividends,  consisting  of  twenty-five  per 
cent,  of  all  profits  between  two  and  four  per 
cent.,  of  fifty  per  cent,  of  all  profits  between 
four  and  six  per  cent.,  and  of  seventy-five  per  cent, 
of  all  profits  above  six  per  cent  should  be  concen- 
trated in  a  "Profit  Sharing  Fund."  This  fund  would 
be  utilized  for  educational  work,  sanitary  improve- 
ments and  healthful  recreation  for  the  entire  com- 
munity, and  any  surplus  would  be  divided,  in  equal 
shares,  among  the  adult  residents  of  the  district — 
whether  men  or  women,  farmers  or  employees  of 
the  Company  (in  its  manufacturing  plants  or  in  its 
commercial  ventures).  The  Company  might  devise 
a  careful  insurance  plan  whereby  it  would  accumu- 
late these  small  annual  dividends  as  insurance 


A  SOCIAL  COMMONWEALTH  IN  ZION  55 

premiums  (instead  of  apportioning  them  among  the 
residents),  so  as  to  provide  for  "old  age  pensions," 
"sick  relief,"  etc. 

The  plan  outlined  above  furnishes  sufficient 
guaranties  for  the  protection  of  the  investor  and 
the  shareholder,  while  it  combines  a  just  method 
of  profit  sharing  with  adequate  provision  for  educa- 
tion and  health. 

7.     Eugenics  aud  Zionism 

The  word  "resident"  has  been  used  in  this 
discussion,  with  a  special  and  important  meaning. 
The  Company  would,  of  course,  have  the  power 
and  discretion  of  selecting  the  residents  to  be 
settled  upon  its  lands,  and  it  should  utilize  this 
selective  process  with  a  definite  end  in  view  and  for 
a  specific  purpose.  A  great  deal  has  been  written 
during  the  last  few  years  upon  the  subject  of 
"Eugenics,"  although  many  of  the  miraculous  re- 
sults attributed  to  the  scientific  breeding  of  human 
beings  may  prove  of  small  value  after  a  close  ex- 
amination of  the  facts.  Yet  none  can  deny  that  we 
are  entering  upon  a  period  in  the  world's  history 
when  a  man  has  ceased  to  acquiesce  in  any  chance 
development  or  "natural  evolution."  He  is  becom- 
ing purposive  in  this  political  and  social  science, 


56  SOCIAL  ZIONISM 

even  as  the  chemist  who  compounds  a  new  sub- 
stance or  the  architect  who  constructs  a  new  build- 
ing. Man  is  learning  how  to  plan  his  own  evolution 
and  to  be  the  master-builder  of  future  generations. 
Many  things  are  still  hidden  by  the  veil  of  the  future, 
and  we  cannot  compose  formulae  that  will  assure 
us  of  a  race  of  supermen.  But  we  can  do  a  great 
deal  towards  eliminating  disease  and  physical  weak- 
ness, towards  encouraging  health,  physical  strength 
and  moral  efficiency.  We  can  promote  the  growth 
of  a  nobler  type  of  man  and  a  more  efficient  society, 
by  eliminating  the  weak  and  the  vicious,  the  feeble 
and  the  criminal,  as  factors  in  the  propagation  of 
mankind. 

What  possibilities  for  good  might  fall  to  the  lot 
of  the  Company  if  it  can  suplement  the  process  of 
"natural  selection"  by  a  scientific  selection  of  the 
residents  and  occupants  of  its  lands  !  It  might 
properly  provide  a  physical,  mental  and  moral  test 
as  a  prerequisite  for  admission  to  permanent  resi- 
dence in  its  district.  Indeed,  it  might  institute  an 
elaborate  system  for  recruiting  the  best  portion  of 
the  Jewish  population  as  a  nucleus  for  the  future 
Hebrew  Commonwealth.  For  example,  the  Company 
may  conclude  that,  with  the  lands  at  its  disposal, 
it  can  support,  at  the  outset,  two  thousand  farmers, 


A  SOCIAL  COMMONWEALTH  IN  ZION  57 

while  as  many  more  laborers  might  find  profitable 
employment  in  the  manufacturing  and  commercial 
enterprises  which  it  can  safely  undertake.  (Esti- 
mating five  persons  to  a  family,  we  would  have  a 
population  of  about  twenty  thousand  inhabitants). 
Now  all  these  persons,  and  so  many  more  as 
possible,  should  be  selected  on  the  basis  of  mental, 
moral  and  physical  fitness,  for  we  want  to  plant 
upon  the  soil  of  the  Holy  Land  a  Social-Moral  Com- 
munity of  Judeans. 

It  would  be  unprofitable,  at  this  time,  to  enter 
into  a  discussion  of  the  details  of  such  "entrance 
examinations,"  but  we  should  bear  in  mind  the 
principle  underlying  such  a  suggestion,  namely,  that 
we  can  devise  a  plan  offering  us  an  opportunity  of 
establishing  in  the  Chosen  Land  a  chosen  people  — 
a  race  gathered  from  all  the  four  corners  of  the 
earth  in  accordance  with  the  traditions  of  Ancient 
Israel,  and  selected  on  a  basis  that  must  meet  with 
the  unqualified  approval  of  the  best  modern  scien- 
tists and  philosophers. 

8.     A  Social-Moral  Community  of  Judeans 

Our  Commonwealth  shall  be  a  true  Common- 
Wealth.  All  the  members  will  be  landlords  because 
all  will  be  tenants  of  a  company  in  which  each  will 


58  SOCIAL  ZIONISM 

have  his  appropriate  share.  The  Company  will 
evolve  a  Democratic  community,  and  the  emphasis 
will  be  placed  upon  equality  of  opportunity  rather 
than  upon  absolute  equality.  There  will  be  no 
attempt  to  limit  the  production  or  accumulation  of 
wealth,  no  attempt  to  restrict  the  high  level  of 
economic  achievement,  but  rather  an  earnest 
effort  to  raise  the  plane  of  all  industry  and  limit  the 
level  below  which  the  struggle  for  existence  cannot 
sink.  Thus,  the  Company  will  insure  employment 
and  a  living  wage  to  its  residents — and  it  can  do  this 
because  it  will  introduce  as  residents  only  so  many 
as  it  can  profitably  engage  in  its  various  economic 
activities. 

Furthermore,  we  shall  have  created  in  Palestine 
a  huge  co-operative  association  for  the  purpose  of 
securing  commercial  concessions  and  of  upbuilding 
a  Social  Commonwealth  resting  upon  the  firm  basis 
of  economic  independence.  It  will  not  be  tributary 
to  the  commercial  nations  of  the  world  or  the 
money-kings  of  Western  Europe  and  America.  It 
will  be  able  to  construct  a  "self-sufficient"  economic 
unit  in  Zion  —  a  Commonwealth  that  will  produce 
the  necessaries  for  its  own  existence,  and  exchange 
articles  with  foreign  nations  only  on  terms  mutually 
advantageous.  It  will  be  treated  as  an  equal  among 


A  SOCIAL  COMMONWEALTH  IN  ZION  59 

the  nations  in  commercial  intercourse,  and  not  as  a 
"dumping  ground  for  surplus  products"  or  as  a 
colonial  dependency,  to  be  exploited  by  captains  of 
industry.  We  shall  not  permit  it  to  sink  to  the  level 
of  a  Congo  Free  State,  a  Hotentot  dependency  or  a 
Persian  "sphere  of  influence,"  but  we  shall  raise  it 
to  the  height  of  an  autonomous  Hebrew  Common- 
wealth. 

9.     The  Social  Contract 

It  has  become  fashionable,  nowadays,  to  laugh 
to  scorn  the  social  contract  theory  of  Rousseau  and 
his  followers,  and  to  assume  that  government  must, 
of  necessity,  be  independent  of  contractual  obliga- 
tions on  the  part  of  the  subjects.  It  is  true  that 
modern  governments  are  not  the  creatures  of  a 
contractual  relation,  but  is  it  not  possible  to  estab- 
lish a  community  under  a  social  contract  of  the 
aggregate  individuals?  The  government  of  to-day, 
as  far  as  most  of  its  subjects  are  concerned,  is  an 
involuntary  superstructure  far  from  the  ideal 
"consent  of  the  governed,"  but  there  is  always  the 
possibility  of  a  great  community  formed  as  a  volun- 
tary organization  and  resting  on  the  consent  of  the 
members.  At  present,  men  are  held  within  the 
political  state,  irrespective  of  their  opinions,  and, 


60  SOCIAL  ZIONISM 

naturally,  the  conservative  element  in  the  popula- 
tion must  ever  look  with  suspicion  upon  any  ex- 
tension of  state  activity  and  authority  over  the  fields 
formerly  left  free  for  individual  initiative.  There 
will  always  remain  a  strong  opposition  party  so  long 
as  the  state  is  viewed  as  an  organism  which  may 
grow  by  feeding  upon  individual  liberty. 

We  Zionists  have  the  possibility  of  creating  in 
Palestine  a  voluntary  organization,  free  from  the 
difficulties  of  the  problem  of  state  interference. 
Such  a  community  would  depend  not  upon  political 
coercion,  but  on  commercial  benefits  and  moral 
values. 

This  plan  offers  the  possibility  of  a  large  Jewish 
settlement,  where,  separated  from  the  conflicting 
political  formulae  about  state  interference,  we  can 
create  a  Jewish  colony,  of  an  industrial  army, 
working  as  a  co-operative  association  for  the  evolu- 
tion of  a  high  social  order.  Finally,  the  Jewish  army 
of  pioneers  should  rest  on  a  voluntary  basis,  the 
colonists  should  be  selected  for  membership  on  the 
principle  of  mental  and  moral  fitness,  and  with  due 
regard  to  the  needs  of  the  industries  to  be  estab- 
lished. 


A  SOCIAL  COMMONWEALTH  IN  ZION  61 

It  would  be  a  fruitless  task,  at  this  time,  to 
trace,  step  by  step,  the  progress  of  such  a  model 
community,  because  these  are  matters  incapable 
of  scientific  accuracy.  However,  we  may  illustrate 
the  course  of  social  reform  by  suggestions  of  social 
experiments  along  the  following  lines: 

1.  Co-operative  farming  schemes  for  collective 
buying  and  selling. 

2.  Common    ownership    of    the    land    of    the 
district. 

3.  In    short,    acting    with    the    other    Jewish 
national  agencies,  the  Company,  should  undertake 
all  matters  of  great  public  interests,  not  necessarily 
to  the  exclusion  of,  but  in  competition  with,  indi- 
vidual initiative. 

The  reader  may  say:  This  is  a  vision  of  a 
dreamer  —  a  mere  picture  of  some  far  off  land  in 
the  distant  future.  A  dream  it  well  may  be,  but  the 
dream  will  come  true  if  we  can  find  among  our 
people  a  Disreali,  who  will  do  for  Palestine  and  the 
Jews  what  the  Earl  of  Beaconsfield  has  done  for 
England  and  Englishmen.  But  our  Disreali  must 
have  a  larger  heart  than  the  "Hebrew  hypnotist" 
who  ruled  Britannia — he  must  be  more  than  a 
supremely  clever  politician.  He  must  be  a  true 
D'Israeli  (of  Israel),  and  he  should  voice  the  grow- 


62  SOCIAL  ZIONISM 

ing  sentiment  of  social  justice  and  depend  for  ulti- 
mate success  upon  economic  achievements  and 
social  reforms.  He  must  do  the  work  that  Lord 
Cromer  has  done  in  Egypt  --  the  pioneer  work  of 
introducing  civilization  and  culture;  and  he  must 
follow  in  the  footsteps  of  a  Lloyd-George,  who 
realized  that  the  supreme  achievement  of  the  mod- 
ern world  is — Democracy.  Can  we  produce  such  a 
statesman? 

Herzl,  in  his  "Altneuland,"  drew  the  picture  of 
such  a  nation-builder  -  -  David  Litvak  -  -  who,  in 
the  near  future,  would  lead  to  victory  the  liberal 
hosts  of  social  reform  against  the  intrenched 
powers  of  conservatism.  The  little  outcast  of 
Russia,  whom  he  had  befriended  in  the  streets  of 
Vienna,  had  grown  to  the  full  height  of  a  great 
leader  for  social  justice  in  the  land  of  the  Prophets. 
David  Litvak  had  become  the  voice  of  Israel  in  its 
struggle  for  a  higher  morality,  for  a  better  social 
system.  Will  Herzl's  dream  come  true?  Shall  we 
bring  forth  a  David  Litvak  -  -  the  new  leader  to 
complete  the  work  of  Herzl  —  the  statesman-archi- 
tect who  will  transform  political  Zionism  into  Social 
Zionism?  As  Moses  placed  his  hands  upon  Joshua 
as  a  symbol  of  the  transfer  of  Jewish  leadership, 
even  so  did  Herzl  put  the  stamp  of  approval  upon 


A  SOCIAL  COMMONWEALTH  IN  ZION  63 

the  ideal  David  Litvak,  whom  the  founder  of 
Zionism  had  never  seen.  Will  David  Litvak  lead  us 
into  the  "Promised  Land,"  which  the  author  of  the 
"Judenstatt"  and  "Altneuland"  could  view  only 
from  foreign  soil?  I  firmly  believe  that  the  ultimate 
triumph  of  Zionism  depends  upon  the  rise  of  a  new 
leader  —  a  man  with  the  brains  of  a  Disreali  and 
the  heart  of  a  David  Litvak. 

We  Jews  have  enough  orators  and  philosophers, 
but  our  great  need  to-day  is  a  supreme  statesman, 
a  modern  Maccabee,  a  man  of  iron  --  who  can  go 
to  Palestine,  and  there,  not  amidst  the  fruitless 
enthusiasm  of  conventions  in  far  off  lands,  but  with 
that  cold  enthusiasm  born  of  a  life  dedicated  to  a 
single  purpose,  there,  in  the  land  of  our  forefathers, 
lay  the  foundations  of  the  Jewish  Commonwealth. 

Ibsen,  in  his  great  drama,  "The  Master  Builder," 
depicts  a  strong  personality  gifted  with  the  mystical 
power  of  having  his  purposes  realized  by  thinking 
and  devoutly  wishing  for  their  fulfillment.  Were  I 
so  fortunately  endowed,  I  would  wish  into  existence 
a  Jewish  master-builder,  the  statesman-architect, 
to  complete  the  work  of  Herzl  and  to  build  the  first 
true  Comonwealth. 


64  SOCIAL  ZIONISM 

JEWISH  LAW  AND  A  SANHEDRIM 

CHAPTER  3. 
I.* 

JUDAISM  cannot  be  confined  within  the 
narrow  bounds  of  a  religion,  as  ordinarily 
defined.  It  differs  from  Catholicism  and 
Protestantism.  It  is  unlike  any  other  religious  creed, 
for  Judaism  is  far  more  than  a  mere  faith,  supple- 
mented by  rules  and  regulations  for  the  observance 
of  prayers  and  holidays.  Indeed,  in  its  genesis  and 
history,  Judaism  is  a  peculiar  religion  even  as  the 
Jews  are  a  peculiar  people.  In  our  own  day,  religion 
has  become  such  a  necessary  convenience  for  easing 
the  conscience  and  "uplifting"  the  soul,  that  Juda- 
ism cannot  be  classified  as  a  religion  at  all,  without 
doing  violence  to  its  full  significnce.  Judaism  is  a 
whole  system  of  law — the  Jewish  Law  of  Life — in 
which  the  attempt  is  made  to  regulate  the  whole 
life-conduct  of  the  individual,  with  the  avowed  pur- 
pose of  building  his  character,  shaping  his  activi- 
ties and  promoting  the  community  life  of  the  people 
who  follow  its  precepts.  In  modern  life,  religion 


*)     See  Appendix  D. 


JEWISH  LAW  AND  A  SANHEDRIN 


65 


is  assigned  to  an  honored  but  restricted  sphere 
of  influence,  with  an  injunction  not  to  wander 
into  secular  fields.  But  in  Jewish  history  there 
is  no  sharp  line  of  distinction  between  the  re- 
ligious and  the  secular,  for  the  very  simple 
reason  that  the  whole  life  of  the  Jew  is  viewed  as 
religious. 

The  Orthodox  Jew  is  commanded  by  his  re- 
ligion to  wash  before  each  meal,  to  prepare  his  food 
in  accordance  with  the  rules  and  regulations  pre- 
scribed by  the  Rabbis,  and,  in  his  prayers,  to  repeat 
that,  in  the  future,  "from  Zion  shall  go  forth  the 
law,  and  the  word  of  the  Lord  from  Jerusalem." 
These  rules  and  Jewish  rites  cannot  be  construed 
as  religious  precepts  unless  included  in  the  word 
"religion"  is  the  whole  "conduct"  of  man — his  hab- 
its, his  relation  to  his  fellowmen  and  the  aspirations 
for  community  life  in  the  future.    The  major  part 
of  the  intricate  pages  of  the  Talmud  is  devoted 
to  discussions  and  debates,  not  over  metaphysical 
concepts  of  the  Godhead,  and  "faith"  and  "creed," 
but  to  an  explanation  and  elucidation  of  the  rela- 
tionship between  man  and  man — the  laws  of  mar- 
riage and  divorce,  contractual  rights,  torts,  criminal 
law  and  the  rights  of  property.      Judaism  may 
be  compared  to  Catholicism  and  Protestantism  only 


66  SOCIAL  ZIONISM 

if  we  add  to  these  religious  institutions  all  the  codes 
of  civil  and  criminal  law  of  the  states  in  which  Cath- 
olics and  Protestants  reside,  and  supplement  such 
statutes  by  all  the  decisions  of  the  appelate  courts 
in  such  countries.    If  the  Catholic  Church  of  Medi- 
eval Europe,  in  its  struggle  with  the  Holy  Roman 
Empire,  had  succeeded  in  abolishing  all  political 
lines  in  Europe,  so  that  all  Christians  would  have 
become  the  citizens  of  a  Catholic  Empire,  with  the 
Pope  as  the  temporal  as  well  as  the  spiritual  head, 
we  might  then  have  had  a  religion  comparable  to 
Judaism — a  secular  religion.    As  a  matter  of  fact. 
Judaism,  in  the  olden  days,  was  inextricably  bound 
up  with  a  government  and  territorial  interests — in 
the  Holy  Land.    Despite  the  loss  of  statehood  and 
the  destruction  of  the  Temple  at  Jerusalem.    Juda- 
ism has  succeeded  in  surviving  as  a  whole  system 
of  law,  without,  however,  the  coercive  power  of  the 
State. 

1.    Judaism  as  the  Common  Law  of  the  Jews. 

In  a  very  real  sense,  Judaism  is  the  "Common 
Law"  of  the  Jews.  Students  of  English  and  Amer- 
ican legal  history  appreciate  the  full  significance  of 
such  a  "Common  Law,"  developed  slowly,  through 
many  ages,  by  the  decisions  of  Judges,  each  judg- 


JEWISH  LAW  AND  A  SANHEDRIN  67 

ment  resting  upon  the  precedents  of  earlier  opin- 
ions, and  deriving  its  binding  force  mainly  from  the 
sanction  of  the  community  in  support  of  its  own 
recognized  customs,  and  the  accepted  "rules  of 
right"  of  the  common  people.  The  Common  Law 
of  the  Anglo-Saxons  represents  a  gradual  growth  of 
precedents  upon  precedents,  showing  the  constant 
harmonization  between  law  and  the  customs,  prac- 
tices and  conditions  of  each  age.  In  this  respect, 
Jewish  Law  or  Judaism  bears  a  close  analogy  to  the 
Common  Law,  and  when  we  review  the  efforts  of 
famous  judges  to  ascertain  the  opinions  of  Coke, 
of  Mansfield  and  of  Marshall  we  are  constantly  re- 
minded of  the  great  Rabbis  who  seek  for  their 
sanction  in  views  of  Hillel,  Jochanan  Ben  Zaccai 
and  Akiba. 

In  this  larger  sense,  Judaism  is  not  a  religion, 
or  not  merely  a  religion,  but  a  legal  system.  And 
yet,  for  centuries,  because  of  unfavorable  external 
conditions,  the  Jewish  people  has  been  unable  to 
continue  the  normal  development  of  the  Jewish 
Common  Law  known  as  Judaism.  Picture  to  your- 
self the  condition  of  English  Law  if  its  develop- 
ment had  ceased  with  the  legal  opinions  of  Lord 
Mansfield!  And  yet,  there  has  been  no  appreciable 
development  in  Jewish  Law  for  centuries — its  nor- 


68  SOCIAL  ZIONISM 

mal  course  having  been  interrupted  since  the  com- 
pilation of  the  Talmud. 

The  vast  majority  of  Jews,  mindful  of  the  tradi- 
tions that  are  part  and  parcel  of  Judaism,  and  re- 
sponsive to  the  whole  trend  of  Jewish  history,  see 
in  Judaism  a  whole  theory  of  life  and  a  comple- 
mentary system  of  laws  to  regulate  such  life.  Such 
a  religion  cannot  be  contrasted  with  "secular,"  for 
both  the  religious  and  secular  activities  of  Jews 
constitute  part  of  the  wide  domain  of  Judaism. 

2.     "Conduct"  and  the  Hebraic  Spirit 

Matthew  Arnold  correctly  interpreted  the  He- 
braic spirit  by  insisting  that  "conduct"  represents 
the  Hebrew  concept  of  life,  and  the  apostle  of  cul- 
ture was  constrained  to  admit  that  "conduct"  com- 
prises three-quarters  of  all  life  activity.  It  is  just 
this  "conduct"  that  is  the  keynote  to  a  proper  un- 
derstanding of  the  Hebrew  spirit  and  Jewish  life 
throughout  the  ages.  The  supreme  question  which 
prompts  the  answering  words  of  the  prophets  of 
Israel,  invokes  the  reasoning  power  of  the  Talmud- 
ists  of  the  olden  days,  and  arrests  the  attention  of 
the  Rabbis  of  our  own  time  is  not  what  does  a  man 
believe,  not  what  is  his  creed,  but  what  does  he  do; 
what  are  his  habits  and  conduct  in  everyday  life. 


JEWISH  LAW  AND  A  SANHEDRIN  69 

Because  Judaism  is  largely  a  system  of  laws 
of  conduct,  intended  to  regulate  the  life-activity  of 
its  members,  it  is  necessary  that  some  authoritative 
body  should  exist,  at  all  times,  to  interpret  these 
laws  and  to  modify  these  living  rules  in  accord- 
ance with  the  ever-changing  conditions  of  a  world 
in  evolution.  In  early  Hebrew  history,  the  prophets, 
speaking  in  the  name  of  the  Lord,  proclaimed  in  a 
Hebrew  Commonwealth,  the  "rule  of  right,"  and 
thereby  afforded  an  opportunity  for  harmonizing 
the  Jewish  Law  with  the  proper  demands  of  each 
generation.  At  a  later  period,  the  Talmudists — 
partly  through  the  Sanhedrin — met,  discussed,  and 
analyzed  Jewish  rules  of  life-conduct,  "in  the  light 
of  reason,"  adopting  new  regulations  and  modifying 
old  rules,  in  conformity  with  the  just  needs  of  each 
age. 

During  many  centuries,  however,  Judaism  has 
been  deprived  of  such  a  law-making  and  law-inter- 
preting body.  As  an  inevitable  result,  there  hao 
been  a  stagnation  of  certain  Jewish  rules  of  life- 
conduct,  against  which  both  Reform  Judaism  and 
modern  Conservative  Judaism  is  a  protest.  Unless  a 
Jewish  law-making  and  law-interpreting  institution 
is  re-established,  we  shall  be  forced,  in  order  to 
escape  from  the  bounds  of  a  stagnant  religion,  to 


70  SOCIAL  ZIONISM 

accept  a  milk  and  water  Judaic  creed  which  re- 
stricts its  activity  within  the  narrow  spheres  of  Sab- 
bath sermons  and  Sunday  speeches,  bolstered  up 
by  an  arrogant  theory  of  a  Jewish  mission — a  mis- 
sion which  serves  to  relieve  the  responsibilities  of 
many  Jews  of  our  day,  since  the  Bible  of  our  an- 
cestors has  already  so  effectively  conveyed,  to  all 
races,  the  lofty  message  of  Monotheism. 

3.     Zionism  and  "Jewish  Law 

Zionism  accepts  the  principle  that  no  Jew  is 
justified  in  abrogating  Jewish  Law  to  suit  his  in- 
dividual convenience,  and  that  Judaism  must  be 
modified  and  interpreted  by  the  Kehillah  (the  Com- 
munity) of  Israel,  through  a  recognized  institution, 
similar  to  the  ancient  law-making  and  law-inter- 
preting body  known  as  the  Sanhedrin.  Some  of 
the  best  thinkers  among  Reform  Jews  are  Zionists, 
largely  because  they  recognize  the  importance  of 
the  creation  of  a  Hebrew  Commonwealth,  for  har- 
monizing Jewish  Law  and  regulating  Jewish  life- 
conduct. 

Unfortunately,  some  Jewish  preachers  have 
confounded  themselves  by  a  high  sounding,  but 
meaningless  phrase,  "Berlin  is  our  Jerusalem,"  or 
"Washington  is  our  Zion."  Politically,  of  course, 


JEWISH  LAW  AND  A  SANHEDRIN  71 

Washington  is  the  capital  of  all  Jews,  who  owe  al- 
legiance to  the  stars  and  stripes,  even  as  it  is  for 
Catholics,  Presbyterians,  and  Christian- Scientists. 
The  Jews  of  America,  as  of  all  other  countries  out- 
side of  the  Land  of  Israel,  cannot,  of  course,  in  any 
true  sense  of  the  term,  be  regarded  as  a  part  of 
this  Jewish-Palestinian  and  Hebrew  speaking  na- 
tion,— and  the  failure  to  recognize  this  fact  is  a 
fundamental  fallacy  of  those  who  delude  themselves 
with  the  ghosts  of  "hyphenism,"  "double  national- 
ity," and  "under  two  flags."      But   all   the   Jews 
throughout  the  world  will  be  bound  to  Hebrew 
speaking  Israel  in  Zion  by  the  potent  factors  of 
religion  and  a  common  race  history.    Palestine  may 
never  hold  within  its  boundaries  more  than  a  few 
million  Jews — perhaps  only  a  small  minority  of  the 
Jewish  people;  but  that  minority  will  speak  the 
Hebrew  tongue,  will  live  in  a  Jewish  environment, 
and  will  be  engaged  in  the  holy  task  of  rebuilding 
the  Motherland  of  Judaism. 

In  short,  a  Jewish  nationality  in  the  Land  of 
Israel — the  establishment  of  a  Jewish  people  on 
the  soil  of  the  Holy  Land — is  an  essential  part  of 
Judaism.  It  is  proclaimed  by  the  prophets,  accepted 
by  the  Rabbis  throughout  the  ages,  and  has  become 
a  fundamental  law  in  Jewish  life. 


72 


SOCIAL  ZIONISM 


Historically,  the  idea  of  a  Sanhedrin  is  subordi- 
nate only  to  that  of  the  Holy  Land  in  the  life  of  the 
Jewish  people.  The  Sanhedrin  was  the  parliament 
where  Jewish  religious  and  communal  questions 
were  debated  and  Jewish  law  determined  and  en- 
forced. During  normal  Jewish  life  in  Palestine,  the 
seventy-one  men  who  composed  the  Sanhedrin  per- 
formed functions  analogous  to  the  combined  activi- 
ties of  an  English  Parliament  and  a  College  of  Car- 
dinals. Since  Judaism  signifies  more  than  Jewish 
religion — more  than  a  mere  creed  with  its  rules 
for  religious  observance — since  Judaism  has  always 
implied  a  whole  system  of  the  Jewish  Laws  of  Life, 
it  was  necessary  that  some  authoritative  body 
should  promulgate  laws  and  regulations  and 
secure  their  observance,  not  perhaps  by  the  force 
of  arms,  but  by  the  equally  potent  "Arguments  of 
Rabbis"  and  the  reasoning  of  the  Talmudists.  The 
Zionists  were  the  first  to  realize  that  the  loss  of  the 
Jewish  Sanhedrin  during  the  many  centuries  of  life 
in  the  Diaspora  was  nearly  as  great  a  blow  to  Jew- 


JEWISri  LAW  AND  A  SANHEDRIN  73 

ish   unity  as   the   destruction   of  the   Temple   at 
Jerusalem. 

The  Zionists,  probably,  committed  a  political 
blunder  in  failing  to  reproduce,  as  nearly  as  possi- 
ble, the  constitution  and  attributes  of  the  ancient 
Sanhedrin,  for  it  would  have  given  to  Zionism  the 
strength  and  value  of  a  traditional  Jewish  tribunal. 
Perhaps,  the  Zionist  leaders  felt  that  inasmuch  as 
they  did  not  represent  all  the  Jews,  they  could  not, 
rightfully,  appropriate  this  old  Jewish  institution. 
In  any  event,  now  we  have  the  right,  and  the  oppor- 
tunity, to  establish  a  Sanhedrin,  which  will  remain 
as  a  permanent  feature  of  Jewish  life  and  a  living 
symbol  of  Judaism. 

4.     The  Requisites  for  a  Sanhedrin 

Such  a  Sanhedrin  must  be  a  democratic  insti- 
tution, and  its  members,  or  delegates,  must  be  truly 
representative  of  the  Jewish  people.  Furthermore, 
it  must  have  power — and  since  military  force  is  out 
of  the  question,  it  should  have  large  financial  re- 
sources— in  order  to  be  able  to  carry  out  large 
measures  of  constructive  philanthropy  and  bene- 
ficent reform.  Above  all,  it  must  be  a  continuous 
body,  with  a  permanent  basis  for  its  existence.  In- 
deed, the  value  of  the  Zionist  Congress,  as  an  insti- 


74  SOCIAL  ZIONISM 

tution,  is  greatly  diminished  by  the  ephemeral  char- 
acter of  its  meetings.  History  has  proven  that  a 
permanent  and  continuous  body  usually  evolves 
harmonious  policies,  which  serve  as  effective  instru- 
ments for  great  accomplishment.  Thus,  the  Roman 
Senate,  with  its  permanent  tenure,  wielded  extra- 
ordinary influence  in  the  development  of  the  Roman 
State.  Even  so,  the  United  States  Senate,  largely 
because  it  is  a  continuous  body  (only  one-third  of 
its  membership  being  replaced  every  two  years), 
with  a  set  of  traditions  which  makes  it  a  permanent 
institution,  has  acquired  power  and  influence  which 
each  House  of  Representatives,  with  its  two  years' 
existence,  has  been  unable  to  rival. 

5.     The  Plan  for  a  Sanhedrin 

Let  a  Membership  Corporation  be  organized, 
entitled,  "Electors  of  the  Sanhedrin,"  open  to  all 
Jews  and  Jewesses,  of  legal  age  and  of  good  moral 
character.  As  a  matter  of  course,  every  elector 
would  have  but  one  vote  for  each  delegate  to  ba 
elected  to  the  Sanhedrin.  The  test  of  Democracy, 
however,  would  require  us  to  go  farther.  It  would 
be  manifestly  unfair  that  all  such  electors  should 
pay  equal  dues,  because  such  a  principle  would 
work  a  hardship  on  our  poorer  brethren,  who  might. 


JEWISH  LAW  AND  A  SANHEDRIN  75 

thereby,  be  prevented  from  entering  the  association. 
Furthermore,  experience  has  taught  us  that  the  in- 
come from  dues,  no  matter  how  large  the  annual 
payments  may  be,  is  usually  insufficient  for  any 
large  undertaking.  We  might  acccept  the  good  old 
Jewish  rule  of  a  tax  of  ten  per  centum  (10%)  of  the 
annual  income,  even  as  the  tithes,  in  the  olden  days, 
were  reserved  for  the  Levites  and  the  Priests.  "And 
all  the  tithes  of  the  land,  whether  of  the  seed  of 
the  land,  or  of  the  fruit  of  the  tree,  is  the  Lord's: 
it  is  holy  unto  the  Lord."  (Leviticus,  Chapter  XXVII,. 
30).  Although  the  principle  of  the  income  tax  is 
now  accepted  as  just  and  proper,  yet  such  a  heavy 
tax  would  not  be  tolerated,  and  its  enforcement 
and  collection  would  be  difficult,  if  not  impossible. 
In  another  and  much  simpler  way,  we  might  secure 
a  voluntary  tax,  just  and  equitable  in  its  nature, 
which  would  undoubtedly  give  us  sufficient  revenue 
for  all  the  purposes  of  a  great  Sanhedrin. 

Any  Jew  or  Jewess,  applying  for  admission  as 
an  elector  of  the  Sanhedrin,  would  be  required  to 
enter  into  a  contract  with  the  latter  body,  provid- 
ing that  the  elector  would  agree  to  pay,  as  a  con- 
sideration for  admission,  ten  per  centum  of  the  net 
value  of  all  his  property,  on  the  day  of  his  death. 
In  effect,  this  would  be  an  inheritance  tax.  As  most 


75 


SOCIAL  ZIONISM 


of  the  governments  of  the  world  have  evolved  fairly 
efficient  machinery  for  the  valuation  and  collec- 
tion of  "death  dues,"  the  Sanhedrin  would  have  an 
assurance  that  this  "inheritance  tax  by  agreement" 
would  be  collected.  (Provision  might  be  made  that 
a  committee  of  arbitration,  consisting  of  an  ap- 
praiser appointed  by  the  Sanhedrin  and  another 
appraiser  selected  by  the  estate  of  the  deceased 
elector,  with  a  third  impartial  arbiter  chosen  by  the 
first  two,  should  determine,  by  majority  vote,  the 
proper  and  just  dues  under  the  contract;  and  that 
unless  this  amount  be  ascertained  and  paid  over 
within  six  months  from  the  time  of  death,  the  legal 
rate  of  interest  would  be  charged  thereafter  on  the 
amount  finally  fixed.) 

Some  such  method  for  the  payment  of  dues 
must  be  accepted  in  order  to  safeguard  the  democ- 
racy of  the  Sanhedrin,  and,  at  the  same  time,  secure 
for  it  large  sums  of  money,  as  the  basis  for  future 
power  and  usefulness.  The  provision  for  the  pay- 
ment of  one-tenth  of  the  value  of  an  elector's  es- 
tate, at  the  time  of  death,  is  eminently  fair,  because 
no  one  can  estimate,  at  the  time  of  his  entrance, 
the  material  value  of  such  elector  to  the  Sanhedrin. 
Oftimes,  a  very  poor  but  young  and  able  recruit 
may  prove  to  be  of  much  more  material  value,  in 


JEWISH  LAW  AND  A  SANHEDRIN  77 

the  long  run  (after  a  successful  career),  than  some 
rich  old  man.  Furthermore,  an  agreement  to  con- 
tribute one-tenth  of  "all  that  one  possesses"  at  the 
time  of  death,  whatever  that  sum  may  be,  will  ap- 
peal to  all  men  as  a  proper  and  legitimate  charge 
for  admission  as  an  elector  of  the  Sanhedrin — the 
test  of  his  interest  in  Jews  and  Judaism.  (It  might 
be  advisable  to  exempt  from  this  voluntary  tax  the 
first  one  thousand  dollars  ($1,000)  of  the  estate,  in 
case  a  widow  survives  the  elector,  and  a  further 
sum  of  five  hundred  dollars  ($500)  for  each  child 
that  survives.) 

These  regulations  would  make  the  Sanhedrin 
both  a  democratic  and  a  powerful  body.  Its  con- 
tinuity can  be  assured  by  a  system  of  election  of  its 
seventy  delegates  whereby  ten  will  be  chosen  every 
year,  by  the  equal  vote  of  all  electors,  each  dele- 
gate to  hold  office  for  a  period  of  seven  years.  Thus, 
only  one-seventh  of  the  membership  of  the  San- 
hedrin would  be  renewable  every  year — after  the 
first  seventy  members  shall  have  been  selected  (and 
arranged  by  lot  into  seven  groups,  corresponding  to 
the  number  of  years  for  which  each  shall  hold  of- 
fice) by  the  organizers  of  the  "Electors  of  the  San- 
hedrin." 


78  SOCIAL  ZIONISM 

The  Sanhedrin,  as  a  permanent  body,  would 
meet  every  year,  in  the  city  of  Jerusalem,  beginning 
its  regular  sessions  on  the  first  day  of  Nisan  (two 
weeks  prior  to  Passover).  Its  first  duty  each  year 
would  be  to  select,  by  majority  vote,  as  its  seventy- 
first  member,  a  Nasi  (or  presiding  officer),  who 
must  be  a  regular  elector  of  the  Sanhedrin  (but 
need  not  be  a  delegate  to  the  Sanhedrin).  The 
Nasi  would  hold  office  for  a  period  of  one  year  (un- 
til the  election  of  his  successor  or  his  re-election  at 
the  following  regular  annual  meeting  of  the  San- 
hedrin) .  He  would  have  the  power  to  fill  all  vacan- 
cies in  the  office  of  delegates  to  the  Sanhedrin,  and 
all  resolutions  of  the  Sanhedrin  would  require  th« 
approval  of  the  Nasi,  except  that  by  the  affirmative 
vote  of  fifty  delegates  to  the  Sanhedrin  any  meas- 
ure might  be  passed  over  his  veto. 

6.     Powers  and  Duttts  of  the  Sanhedrin 

Assured  of  its  permanency,  its  financial 
strength  and  the  support  of  the  Jewish  masses,  be- 
cause of  its  democratic  character,  the  Sanhedrin 
would  become  the  great  unifying  force  in  Jewry, 
not  only  representative  of  the  present  generation, 
but  also  responsive  to  the  ideals  of  Judaism 
throughout  the  ages — to  the  traditions  of  the  past 


JEWISH  LAW  AND  A  SANHEDRIN  79 

and  the  spiritual  hopes  for  the  future.    It  could  un- 
dertake tasks  of  large  significance.    It  could  guard 
the  interests  of  Jews  and  Judaism  throughout  the 
world.    If  Zionism  can  win  the  approval  of  a  major- 
ity of  the  delegates,  the  Sanhedrin  might  undertake 
active  work  in  the  upbuilding  of  a  "Jewish  Home- 
land in  Palestine."    Indeed.,  the  Sanhedrin  would  of- 
fer the  best  opportunity  for  testing  the  real  strength 
of  Zionism,  and  all  other  movements,  among  the 
Jewish  people.    Established,  as  the  Sanhedrin  would 
be,  not  merely  on  an  ecclesiastical  basis  nor  yet 
upon  any  chauvinistic  basis  of  mere  nationalism, 
but  on  the  basis  of  Jewish  Law  founded  on  the 
raco-religious  character  of  Israel,  it  could  not  fail 
to  win  the  approval  of  all  right  thinking  Jews.    In 
principle,  it  might  operate  as  a  Kehillah  for  the  Jews 
of  the  World  (even  as  the  New  York  Kehillah  amis 
to  represent  the  Jews  of  New  York  City),  but  with 
this  essential  difference:  The  Jewish  Sanhedrin,  un- 
like most  of  our  institutions,  would  not  be  com- 
pelled to  rely  upon  the  financial  support  of  a  few 
Jewish  philanthropists,  to  the  detriment  of  its  de- 
mocratic character.     The  Sanhedrin  would  secure 
Its  funds  from  the  voluntary  tax  on  all  its  electors, 
each  of  whom  have  an  equal  voice  and  vote  in  the 
selection  of  the  seventy  delegates. 


80 


It  is  important  to  point  out  that  upon  the  ini- 
tiation of  any  Jew  or  Jewess  as  an  elector  of  the 
Sanhedrin,  there  would  immediately  arise  a  legal 
and  binding  contract,  which  would  be  terminable 
only  by  death,  when  ten  per  centum  (10%)  of  the 
net  estate  of  the  elector  would  become  the  prop- 
erty of  the  Sanhedrin.    Every  elector  would,  there- 
fore, be  a  permanent  addition  to  the  moral  value 
and  the  material  force  of  the  institution.    Further- 
more, it  is  reasonable  to  assume  that  the  funds 
which  the  Sanhedrin  may  secure  will  be  very  large, 
so  that  it  may  eventually  play  the  role  of  a  rich 
father  to  Jewish  charity  and  constructive  philan- 
thropy, and  may  become  the  protector  of  Jewish 
interests  the  world  over.    Perhaps  the  ideal  condi- 
tion would  be  attained  when  the  Sanhedrin  would 
become  the  conscious  unifying  force  between  the 
various  Kehiilahs  of  the  large  Jewish  centres  of  the 
world.    The  Sanhedrin,  representative  of  all  Jews, 
would  distribute  a  large  portion  of  its  funds  among 
the  Kehiilahs,  and  the  latter  would  assume  the  re- 
sponsibility for  local  Jewish  needs.     The  Kehillah 
would  thereby  be  raised  to  the  position  of  a  large 
and  powerful  institution  in  Jewish  life,  for  it  would 
nave  the  power  and  the  means  to  undertake  im- 
portant duties  and  exercise  valuable  rights. 


JEWISH  LAW  AND  A  SANHEDRI^  81 

It  is  not  for  us,  at  this  time,  to  point  out  the 
tasks  which  such  a  Sanhedrin  might  undertake,  nor 
can  we  gauge  its  possibilities  for  useful  work  in 
the  future.  It  is  sufficient  for  us  to  know  that  we 
shall  have  created  an  institution  which  can  grow 
with  the  needs  of  each  age  and  fulfill  the  demands 
that  will  be  made  upon  it  for  the  protection  of  our 
less  fortunate  brethren  and  the  preservation,  pro- 
motion and  development  of  Judaism. 


7.    elhe  "Elector  of  the  Sanhedrin." 

All  societies  and  charitable  organizations  suf- 
fer from  the  inability  to  maintain  the  quality  and 
quantity  of  their  membership,  and  a  large  propor- 
tion of  the  funds  that  are  intended  to  be  applied  t  > 
philanthropic  endeavor  are,  necessarily,  utilized  for 
the  collection  of  dues  and  for  propaganda  pur- 
poses to  secure  new  members,  in  place  of  those  who 
resign  or  remain  continually  in  arrears  in  dues. 
Nearly  all  our  voluntary  organizations  rest  upon 
the  shifting  sands  of  uncertain  membership.  At- 
tempts have  been  made  to  obviate  this  difficulty  by 
the  organization  of  insurance  and  benefit  "orders" 
and  "lodges."  These  large  fraternal  societies,  how- 
ever, are  always  subject  to  the  danger  of  subordi- 


82  SOCIAL  ZIONISM 

nating  considerations  of  large  consequence  to  the 
petty  rounds  of  duty  involved  in  the  promotion  of 
the  insurance  and  benefit  features,  and  very  often 
idealism  is  lost  in  the  scramble  for  "sick  benefits," 
"cemetery  rights"  and  "death  dues."  We  propose 
to  reverse  the  process — to  insure  our  electors  for 
life  affiliation  with  the  Sanhedrin.  Instead  of  grant- 
ing insurance  benefits,  we  will  demand,  as  a  leg- 
ally contractual  right,  the  payment  of  a  voluntary 
tax  from  the  estate  of  the  deceased  elector.  Once 
a  Jew  is  admitted  as  an  Elector  of  the  Sanhedrin,  he 
will  remain  such  for  life,  bound  to  the  organization 
not  by  the  promise  of  benefits  and  insurance,  but 
by  the  terms  of  a  contract  entered  into  ior  the 
benefit  of  Jewry  and  the  insurance  of  Judaism. 

The  Sanhedrin  might  develop  into  the  eilective 
religious  assemblage  of  the  Jews.  It  might  become 
the  direct  heir  to  the  glories  and  traditions  of  the 
Sanhedrin  of  old.  It  would  then  become  the  sym- 
bol of  the  Kehillah — the  living  witness  of  a  united 
Jewry.  Members  of  our  race  from  the  four  corner* 
of  the  earth  would  learn  to  look  with  pride  upon 
this  Parliament  in  the  land  of  our  fore-fathers,  and 
quote  with  renewed  fervor  the  words:  "From  Zion 
shall  go  forth  the  law,  and  the  word  of  the  Lord 
from  Jerusalem." 


JEWISH  LAW  AND  A  SANHEDRIN 


83 


With  the  upbuilding  of  the  Sanhedrin,  we  shall 
bring  back  into  Jewish  life — revivified  and  strength- 
ened by  modern  methods  and  the  spirit  of  democ- 
racy— the  oldest  institution  in  Jewish  Polity: 

"And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  Gather  unto 
me  seventy  men  of  the  elders  of  Israel,  whom  thou 
knowest  to  be  the  elders  of  the  People,  and  officers 
over  them;  and  bring  them  into  the  tabernacle  of 
the  congregation,  that  they  may  stand  there  with 
thee. 

"And  I  will  come  down  and  talk  with  thee 
there;  and  I  will  take  of  the  spirit  which  is  upon 
thee,  and  will  put  it  upon  them ;  and  they  shall  bear 
the  burden  of  the  people  with  thee,  that  thou  bear 
ft  not  thyself  alone."  (Numbers,  Chapter  XI,  16, 
17.) 


A  JEWISH  INDUSTRIAL  ARMY  IN  THE 
COMMONWEALTH 

CHAPTER  4.* 


NOW,  when  Palestine  is  on  the  front  page  of 
American  newspapers,  and  when  statesmen 
gravely  consider  the  claims  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  Jewish  nation  in  the  land  of  Israel,  it 
is  high  time  to  prepare  ourselves  for  the  work  which 
we  shall  be  called  to  do  in  the  land  of  our  fore- 
fathers, after  the  war.  How  shall  we  prepare?   The 
safest  guide  for  the  future  is  the  experience  of  the 
past,  and  an  examination  of  Zionist  history  must 
prove  to  be  of  extraordinary  value  at  this  time. 

History  can  be  viewed  from  two  angles  —  the 
biographical  and  the  social.  Carlyle  has  presented, 
in  masterly  fashion,  the  biographical  view  of  his- 
tory, where  heroes  and  hero-worship  constitute  the 
prime  factors  in  the  progress  of  civilization.  Such 
a  theory  finds  ready  acceptance  among  young  stu- 


*)     See  Appendix  F. 


i* 


A  JEWISH  INDUSTRIAL  ARMY  85 

dents,  for  the  task  is  simplified  when  we  are  per- 
mitted to  credit  such  an  epoch-making  event  as  the 
establishment  of  American  Independence  to  George 
Washington,  or  the  downfall  of  the  Empire  of  Na- 
poleon the  Great  to  the  skill  and  wisdom  of  the  vic- 
tors of  Waterloo — the  English  Wellington  and  me 
Prussian  Blucher.  Furthermore,  the  biographical 
explanation  of  history  fires  the  imagination,  for 
youth  is  ever  confident  that  it  can  do  what  "other 
great  men  have  done." 

Careful  historians,  however,  have  concluded 
that  the  biographical  view  of  history  is  merely  a 
single  aspect,  which,  in  itself,  would  give  a  false 
picture  of  our  past.  The  social  aspect — the  view 
that  large  groups  of  people  who  are  guided  by  some 
thought,  ideal  or  material  reason  are  the  true  mak- 
ers of  history,  and  that  the  masses  have  shaped  the 
past,  and  will  continue  to  shape  the  future,  far 
more  than  any  great  individuals  have  been  able  to 
do — this  is  the  truth  which  modern  historians  are 
successfully  conveying  to  us. 

In  short,  American  Independence  should  be 
traced  to  the  spirit  of  the  descendants  of  the  May- 
flower and  the  courage  of  the  freeman  who  settled 
Virginia;  and  Napoleon  Bonaparte  was  beaten  in 
the  "Battle  of  the  Nations,"  when  the  national  spirit 


86  SOCIAL  ZIONISM 

of  Spain,  of  Germany  and  of  England  overthrew  the 
"Child  of  Destiny."  The  French  Revolution  was 
the  creation  not  of  a  Mirabeau,  a  Robespierre,  or 
even  of  a  Rousseau  and  Voltaire;  it  was  the  direct 
result  of  all  French  thinking  and  French  history. 
And  even  so,  while  we  Jews  have  made  Herzl  the 
personification  of  modern  Zionism,  the  Zionist 
movement  is  really  the  result  of  Jewish  life  from 
the  days  that  the  Romans  defiled  the  Temple  even 
unto  the  latest  Passover,  when  we  repeated  for  the 
two  thousandth  time:  "L'Shona  Habaah  B'Jeru- 
sholaim." 

Modern  Zionism  was  founded  not  by  the  publi- 
cation of  the  "Judenstatt" — for  the  Auto-Emancipa- 
tion of  Pinsker  preceded  Herzl's  book — not  even  at 
the  conferences  with  Kings,  Emperors  and  Popes, 
which  Herzl's  wonderful  energy  made  possible. 
Modern  Zionism  was  born  when  the  Jewish  people 
first  responded,  in  1897,  to  Herzl's  call  for  a  Zionist 
Congress.  Herzl's  greatest  work — as  historians  will 
undoubtedly  view  it — is  the  establishment  of  the 
Zionist  Congress  as  the  articulate  voice  of  that 
portion  of  the  Jewish  people  which  resolved  to  live 
on,  in  spite  of  all  the  tempting  invitations  to  commit 
suicide. 


A  JEWISH  INDUSTRIAL  ARMY  87 

Be  it  remembered,  however,  that  it  was  not 
simply  Herzl's  call  for  a  Congress  that  made  Zion- 
ism possible.  The  birth  of  the  Zionist  movement 
must  date  from  the  time  when  the  Jewish  people  re- 
sponded to  such  a  call.  And  the  response  was  the 
direct  result  of  Jewish  history  from  the  days  of 
Moses,  David  and  the  Maccabees  even  until  the 
days  of  the  Russian  Pogroms  and  the  Dreyfus  trial. 
The  response  to  the  call  for  a  Zionist  Congress  wab 
an  answer  not  only  to  Herzl's  Judenstatt,  but  also 
to  Pinsker's  Brochure,  to  "Rom  und  Jerusalem"  of 
Moses  Hess,  to  the  pioneer  work  of  the  Bilu  and  to 
the  Jewish  prayer  book. 

1.     The  Chovevti 


Upon  the  formal  organization  of  the  Zionist 
movement  at  the  first  congress,  it  was  found  that 
very  valuable  Zionist  work  had  already  been  done 
in  Palestine.  The  Chovevei  Zion  —  our  "Lovers  of 
Zion"  —  had  succeeded  in  creating  in  our  ancestral 
land,  a  body  of  pioneers,  who  had  fought  with  the 
soil,  for  nearly  two  decades,  and  had  conquered; 
our  advance  guard  in  Zion  had  already  established 
the  Jamestown  and  the  Plymouth  of  the  future  Jew- 
ish Commonwealth.  Scant  attention  has  been  paid, 
hitherto,  to  those  brave  spirits,  who  with  their 


§8  SOCIAL  ZIONISM 

health,  and  often  with  their  lives,  have  laid  the 
foundation-stones  of  the  House  of  Israel.  The  fu- 
ture historian,  however,  will  be  able  to  place  a  pro- 
per estimate  upon  the  life-work  of  our  Palestine 
pioneers — and  it  will  be  far  above  the  high-sound- 
ing resolutions  of  Conventions  and  Congresses.  In- 
deed, the  time  is  approaching,  even  now,  when  we 
shall  be  compelled  to  admit  the  importance  of  the 
labors  of  our  forerunners  in  Zion. 

Let  us,  in  imagination,  bridge  over  the  horrors 
of  the  Great  War,  and  take  a  glimpse  at  the  council- 
table  where  the  terms  of  peace — let  us  hope  a  last- 
ing peace — will  be  formulated.  Belgium  will  pre- 
sent her  just  claims  for  rehabilitation;  Serbia,  now 
crushed  to  earth,  will  press  her  demands  for  terri- 
tory and  independence;  little  Montenegro  will  de- 
mand reparation;  and  Poland,  rejuvenated,  will,  by 
consent  of  all,  join  the  galaxy  of  nations.  Let  us 
hope  that  the  Zionist  organization  and  its  sympa- 
thizers will  plead  the  cause  of  Israel  in  that  critical 
time. 

But  even  if  we  shall  be  the  chosen  spokesmen 
of  the  Jewish  people,  what  shall  our  represenatives 
say?  Will  they  ask  for  the  establishment  of  a  Ju- 
daea in  Palestine  because,  forsooth,  we  have  strong 
Zionist  organizations  in  Europe  and  America?  If 


A  JEWISH  INDUSTRIAL  ARMY  89 

so,  the  diplomats  of  Europe  will  have  the  right  to 
answer  our  request  with  the  question:  "Do  you 
want  us  to  hand  over  a  territory  to  Jewish  absentee 
landlords,  who  reside  in  the  old  Russian  Pale  and 
in  the  large  cities  of  Europe  and  America?"  Even 
the  frank  diplomatic  representatives  of  America 
may  say:  "We  cannot  delegate  the  government  of 
a  territory  to  those  who  have  not  yet  taken  physical 
possession  of  the  land  which  they  claim  as  their 
own — even  as  we  shall  not  restore  Poland  to  the 
Poles  who  reside  in  America,  but  only  to  the  Poles 
who  have  continued  to  live  in  their  ancestral  land." 

And  then  our  spokesmen  will  have  but  one  an- 
swer. 

They  will  proudly  point  to  the  hundred  thou- 
sand Jews  who  constitute  our  advance-guard  in  the 
Land  of  Israel.  They  will  speak  of  the  fifteen  thou- 
sand Jewish  colonists  who  comprise  our  agricul- 
tural army  for  the  redemption  of  the  soil  of 
Palestine.  At  that  time,  our  pioneers  in  Palestine 
will  cease  to  be  recipients  of  favors  at  our  hands, 
and  will  prove  to  be  our  benefactors,  for  they  will 
save,  for  our  children  and  children's  children,  the 
Land  of  Israel.  On  that  occasion,  one  Jew  in  Pales- 
tine will  be  worth  a  whole  Zionist  Society  in  Amer- 
ica. The  hundred  thousand  Jews  in  Palestine  will 


90 


SOCIAL  ZIONISM 


mean  more  for  the  Jewish  nation  than  a  million 
Jews  in  Poland.  The  Chovevei  Zion  were  the  first 
to  recognize  the  political  value  of  taking  physical 
possession  of  the  soil  of  Palestine,  and  so  the  Cho- 
vevei Zion  and  those  who  advocated  practical  work 
in  Palestine,  were,  in  fact,  also  political  Zionists. 
If  all  the  Jews  had  realized  the  full  significance  of 
the  work  of  the  Chovevei  Zion,  it  is  probable  that 
we  would  now  have  half  a  million  Jewish  settlers  in 
the  Holy  Land.  As  a  result,  instead  of  one  hun- 
dred thousand  Jews,  as  at  the  present  time,  or  less 
than  one-fifth  of  the  total  population  of  Palestine, 
we  would  constitute  a  majority  of  the  population. 
We  would  then  have,  the  right — not  only  moral,  but 
political  right — to  demand  "Home  Rule  for  Pales- 
tine," a  Jewish  Palestine.  Let  us  make  no  further 
mistake.  Let  us  become  real  political  Zionists,  and 
recognize  the  overwhelming  truth  that  has  been 
staring  us  in  the  face  since  1882 — that  we  shall 
have  a  Jewish  nation  in  Palestine  as  soon  as  we 
constitute  a  majority  of  the  population.  It  is  a  sim- 
ple formula,  but  it  cannot  be  side-tracked  by  polit- 
ical manoeuvres,  for  it  is  the  supreme  political  de- 
mand in  modern  Jewish  history.  By  all  means  let 
us  utilize,  to  the  full,  political  advantages  which 
will  offer  us  opportunities  for  the  establishment  of 


A  JEWISH  INDUSTRIAL  ARMY  91 

a  Jewish  state,  but  let  us  always  remember  that 
Palestine  shall  become  ours,  in  fact,  only  when  we 
shall  constitute  a  preponderant  majority  in  the  land. 
There  are  600,000  people  in  Palestine  at  the  present 
time,  of  whom  over  100,000  are  Jews.  If  the  Jews 
should  increase  their  numbers  to  1,000,000,  the 
future  Palestine  will  belong  to  us,  irrespective  of 
the  machinations  of  intriguing  diplomats  and  in 
spite  of  the  dreams  of  conquest  of  Kings,  Emperors, 
and  militarists. 

2.     Conquest  by  Settlement 

One  of  the  most  outstanding  facts  in  history  is 
the  relative  insignificance  of  military  conquest  upon 
the  fortunes  of  nations.  Alexander  the  Great,  in 
a  spectacular  career  of  twelve  years,  conquered  the 
Persian  Empire,  yet  the  whole  imperial  structure 
was  shattered  within  a  few  decades  after  his  death. 
Only  Greek  philosophy,  language  and  culture  sur- 
vived, as  a  modifying  factor  upon  Oriental  civiliza- 
tion. England  and  France  struggled  for  an  Empire 
in  North  America,  but,  fundamentally,  it  was  not 
English  arms,  but  English  colonization  of  a  vast 
and  uninhabited  territory,  that  made  possible  the 
United  States  and  Canada.  In  the  case  of  India, 


92  SOCIAL  ZIONISM 

which,  unlike  North  America,  has  been  for  ages  a 
thickly  populated  country,  the  struggle  for  control 
between  England  and  France  left  little  impress  upon 
Hindoo  civilization.  India  is  as  unlike  England  to- 
day, as  it  would  have  been  unlike  the  French  nation, 
had  France  been  the  conqueror  in  the  eighteenth 
century  .  The  fact  is  that  the  preponderant  majority 
of  the  population  of  any  country  virtually  fashions 
that  nation,  determining  its  character  and  culture, 
with  but  little  regard  to  the  formulas  of  politicians 
or  the  intrigues  of  diplomats. 

We  are  liable  to  confuse  political  forms  with 
territorial  and  national  facts:  Poland  really  exists, 
and  must  continue  to  exist,  as  long  as  the  vast 
majority  of  the  population  of  a  certain  district  are 
Poles.  Ireland  exists,  and  must  continue  to  exist, 
as  long  as  the  Irish  constitute  the  large  quantity 
in  the  Emerald  Isle.  Belgium  lives — no  matter  how 
many  foreign  armies  may  occupy  her  soil — so  long 
as  her  people  constitute  the  major  fraction  in  the 
land.  And  in  all  such  cases,  where  the  internal  and 
vital  sign  of  nationality  exists,  namely,  actual  phys- 
ical possession  of  the  territory  by  a  large  majority 
of  the  people  that  claim  it,  there  is  always  the 
probability,  nay,  the  certainty,  that  political  inde- 
pendence will  follow  as  a  necessary  external  evi- 


93 


dence  of  national  life.  The  birth  rate  upon  the 
national  soil  is  of  far  more  vital  consequence  than 
the  death  rate  in  victorious  battles  upon  conquered 
territory. 

Judaea  was  not  conquered  when  Nebuchad- 
nezar  destroyed  the  Temple  at  Jerusalem.  Judaea 
continued  to  live  until  Gedaliah  was  slain,  and  his 
followers  deserted  the  land  of  their  fathers.  Our 
ancestors  set  aside  the  fast  of  Gedaliah  as  a  re- 
membrance of  the  great  loss  to  the  Jewish  nation, 
for  they  too  appreciated  the  truth  that  not  mere 
political  subjection,  but  absence  from  the  land,  was 
the  great  Jewish  tragedy.  Similarly,  the  Jewish 
nation  was  not  destroyed  when  Titus  took  posses- 
sion of  the  smouldering  ruins  of  Jerusalem,  but  we 
have  been  in  a  state  of  "suspended  animation"  from 
the  days  when,  after  the  Bar  Kochba  Rebellion,  we 
ceased  to  be  the  dominant  population  in  Pales- 
tine. The  nations  are  proclaiming  the  rights  of 
"small  nationalities,"  and  our  claim  to  recognition 
cannot  be  ignored  when  we  constitute  the  prepon- 
derant majority  in  the  land  of  our  forefathers.  We 
must  adopt  one  Zionist  watchword:  "Coloniza- 
tion." Let  us  become  the  majority  population  in 
the  land,  and  we  shall  thereby  acquire  a  first  mort- 
gage on  Palestine,  which  can  be  paid  off  only  by 


94  SOCIAL  ZIONISM 

the  establishment  of  a  Jewish  Commonwealth  IH 
Erez  Israel. 

From  such  a  point  of  view,  the  work  of  th« 
Chovevei  Zion,  the  Bilu,  the  Menucha  V'Nachla, 
the  co-operative  settlements  like  Merchavla,  th« 
Achoozahs  and  the  Zion  Commonwealth  in  this 
country  constitute  a  most  important  branch  of 
Zionist  endeavor.  While  most  of  us  have  philoso- 
phized and  talked,  our  pioneers  in  Palestine  wer« 
engaged  in  the  actual  work  of  upbuilding  the  Hous« 
of  Israel.  The  Jewish  future  is  dependent,  almost 
entirely,  upon  the  work  already  done,  and  the  work 
that  we  shall  do,  in  Palestine,  after  the  war.  At 
the  Zionist  Convention  in  Philadelphia,  in  June, 
1916,  I  pointed  out  that  we  must  determine  npon 
a  definite  and  coherent  program  of  "preparedness 
for  after  the  war."  To-day,  we  can  formulate  such 
a  program  which  can  be  put  into  effect  as  soon  as 
peace  is  declared.  Militaristic  governments  have 
laboriously  worked  out  plans  of  campaign  which 
the  general  staff  might  undertake,  immediately 
upon  the  declaration  of  war.  Israel's  mission  is 
peace;  yet  we  may  profit  from  the  lessons  of  effi- 
cient war  machines.  Let  our  general  staff — our 
Zionist  Administration — formulate  plans  for  a 


A  JEWISH  INDUSTRIAL  ARMY  95 

peaceful  industrial  army  that  shall  labor  to  redeem 
Palestine  for  us  and  our  children. 

3.  eThe  Zton  Commonwealth  and  Jewish  Colonization 

Such  a  program  is  now  being  realized,  step  by 
•tep,  by  the  Zion  Commonwealth  (which  has  re- 
ceived the  official  sanction  of  the  Zionist  Organiza- 
tion of  America).  It  is  the  latest  form  of 
organization  in  Palestine,  and  therefore  is  the  nat- 
ural heir  to  all  the  experiences  of  Palestine  coloni- 
aation  in  the  last  forty  years.  It  can  borrow  from 
all  the  plans  that  have  been  successful,  and  it  has 
the  opportunity  to  profit  from  the  mistakes  of  the 
past.  The  Zion  Commonwealth  has  adopted  much 
from  the  Menucha  V'Nachla  and  the  Achoozah,  in 
addition  to  the  social  program  which  presents  its 
distinctive  contribution  to  Palestine  colonization. 

One  defect  in  the  plans  and  work  of  Jewish 
colonization  in  Palestine  must  be  eliminated  with- 
out delay,  in  order  to  assure  a  Jewish  Palestine. 
In  the  past,  no  provision  was  made  against  such 
use  of  the  land  of  Palestine  as  might  be  detrimental 
to  the  rapid  development  of  a  preponderant  Jewish 
population  in  the  Land  of  Israel.  It  has  been  de- 
monstrated that  Jewish  farmers  in  Palestine  are 
often  tempted,  for  economic  reasons,  to  employ 


96 


SOCIAL  ZIONISM 


non-Jewish  laborers,  who,  with  their  low  standard 
of  living,  can  underbid  the  Jew.  As  a  result,  we 
might  have  witnessed  the  growth  of  a  Jewish  bour- 
geois farmer  class,  holding  title  to  large  farming 
estates  and  employing  a  numerous  body  of  non- 
Jewish  laborers,  who,  by  their  mere  numbers,  would 
be  the  real  masters  of  the  country.  Such  a  danger- 
ous condition  was  modified,  to  some  extent,  by  the 
migration  of  Yemenite  Jews  (from  southern 
Arabia)  into  Palestine,  who,  because  of  their  meagre 
requirements,  are  able  to  compete  with  non-Jewish 
labor.  But  the  whole  number  of  Yemenite  Jews  is 
not  large  enough  to  solve  the  problem,  and  it  still 
remains  the  most  important  question  in  Jewish 
colonization.  The  co-operative  colony  at  Merchavia, 
under  the  plans  formulated  by  Franz  Oppenheimer 
is  an  effort  in  the  right  direction,  but  it  is,  as  yet, 
only  an  experiment.  Furthermore,  its  ultimate  suc- 
cess is  limited  because  of  the  adoption  of  an  ideal- 
istic co-operative  form  of  society,  where  individual 
initiative  is  neglected. 

The  serious  problem  of  securing  a  Jewish  labor 
supply  upon  farms  owned  by  Jews — of  assuring  a 
Jewish  Palestine — has  been  faced  by  the  Zion  Com- 
monwealth. Proper  provision  is  made  for  indi- 
vidual initiative  among  those  who  will  settle  upon 


A  JEWISH  INDUSTRIAL  ARMY 


97 


lands  purchased  by  the  Zion  Commonwealth,  since 
each  member  will  receive  a  farming  estate  (in  pro- 
portion to  the  amount  of  money  paid  into  the  com- 
mon fund),  which  land  he  will  operate  as  his  indi- 
vidual possession.    However,  all  such  farming  lands 
are  held  subject  to  the  necessary  communal  rules 
and  regulations,  adopted  from  time  to  time,  by  the 
directors  of  the  Zion  Commonwealth  and  by  the  of- 
ficers, selected  by  the  members  resident  in  Pales- 
tine.    Such  a  democratic  form  of  government  will 
appreciate  the  supreme  importance  of  developing 
a  reliable  Jewish  labor  force,  and  we  may  be  as- 
sured that  proper  provision  will  be  made  for  the 
full  utilization  of  Jewish  farm  labor.    The  growth 
of  an  independent  farmer  class  is  encouraged  by 
the  social  program  of  the  Zion  Commonwealth, 
wherein  provision  is  made  for  lifting  the  burden  of 
taxation  from  the  small  farmer  and  placing  it  upon 
the  high  land  values  created  by  the  growth  of  the 
community.    For  that  purpose,  ten  per  cent,  of  all 
the  land  purchased  by  the  Zion  Commonwealth  is 
reserved  to  the  whole  association,  with  the  object 
of  establishing  thereon  such  industrial  plants,  vil- 
lages and  townships  as  may  be  necessary  and  prof- 
itable.   The  community  will,  therefore,  be  able  to 
secure  a  large  income  in  the  shape  of  ground  rent, 


98  SOCIAL  ZIONISM 

as  the  landlord  of  the  valuable  sites  in  the  com- 
munity, exclusive  of  farming  estates.    Such  an  in- 
come as  a  landlord  will  probably  soon  be  sufficient 
to  enable  the  community  to  reduce,  to  a  minimum, 
the  taxation  of  farm  lands — thus  shifting  the  heavy 
burden  of  taxation  from  the  shoulders  of  the  poor. 
One  of  the  most  important  aspects  of  the  Zion 
Commonwealth  is  the  appeal  which  it  makes  to 
those  who  never  expect  to  become  actual  settlers 
in  the  land  of  our  forefathers,  but  who,  neverthe- 
less, have  a  craving  for  some  piece  of  land  in  Pales- 
tine, which  they  might  call  their  own — for  a  "Chalek 
In  Erez  Israel."    The  Achoozahs  and  other  Pales- 
tine colonization  companies  have  restricted  their 
appeal,  hitherto,  to  those  who  have  looked  forward 
to  actual  physical  settlement  upon  the  soil  of  the 
Holy  Land,  and  have  neglected  that  large  class  of 
Jews,  constituting,  probably,  the  majority  among 
our  people,  who  are  ready  and  willing  to  invest  in 
Palestine  land,  but  who  cannot,  for  personal  rea- 
sons, become  actual  settlers  upon  the  lands  which 
they  purchase.    The  Zion  Commonwealth  aims  to 
enlist  the  support  of  all  who  are  interested  in  a 
"Jewish  Palestine,"  even  as  in  the  days  of  Ezra, 
those  who  remained  in  Babylon  contributed  heavily 
towards  the  establishment  of  the  second  Temple. 


Under  the  terms  of  the  contract  between  the  Zion 
Commonwealth  and  its  individual  members,  each 
owner  of  agricultural  land,  who  does  not  take  actual 
possession  of  his  estate,  may  lease  his  holdings  to 
the  general  association,  which  undertakes  to  oper- 
ate such  land  for  his  benefit.  In  view  of  the  fact 
that  a  large  number  of  members  of  the  Zion  Com- 
monwealth will  not  be  resident  occupants  of  their 
lands,  the  general  association  will  always  have 
large  estates  which  it  may  utilize  for  the  develop- 
ment of  an  independent  Jewish  laboring  class — on 
some  fair  basis  of  co-operation — as  the  backbone 
of  a  Jewish  Palestine. 

4.     A  Jewish  Industrial  Army 

I  have  therefore  proposed  the  organization  of 
an  agricultural  and  industrial  co-operative  associa- 
tion— a  sort  of  Jewish  Industrial  Army — as  an  as- 
sociate company  to  the  Zion  Commonwealth,  the 
chief  function  of  which  will  be  to  develop  those 
lands  of  the  Zion  Commonwealth  which  will  not  be 
occupied  by  individual  members.  This  Jewish  In- 
dustrial Army  will  utilize  the  labor  of  Yeminite 
Jews  and  of  Russian,  Roumanian  and  Galician  Jew- 
ish emigrants  upon  the  lands  purchased  by  their 
more  fortunate  brethren  in  America.  While  the 


100  SOCIAL  ZIONISM 

Zion  Commonwealth  is  an  organized  propaganda 
for  the  Jewish  settlement  of  Palestine,  through  a 
land  buying  medium,  the  Jewish  Industrial  Army 
will  be  a  huge  labor  union,  with  the  aim  of  creating, 
in  Palestine,  a  preponderant  majority  of  Jewish 
farm  laborers  and  artisans.  The  plans  for  the  Jew- 
ish Industrial  Army  have  not  yet  been  worked  out 
in  detail,  but,  for  our  present  purpose,  it  is  sufficient 
to  indicate  the  lines  along  which  it  must  grow. 

As  soon  as  peace  is  established,  we  shall  call 
for  volunteers  to  the  Jewish  Industrial  Army  for 
pioneer  work  in  Palestine.  We  shall  borrow  from 
the  warring  nations  all  the  valuable  elements  that 
fashioned  their  extraordinary  armies — the  disci- 
pline, the  obedience,  the  self-sacrifice  and  the 
single-minded  purpose.  We  shall  then  take  these 
elements  of  human  fire  and  transform  them  from 
the  terrible  thunderbolt,  which  one  army  hurls  at 
an  opposing  force,  into  a  concentrated  power  for 
the  struggle  against  obstinate  nature.  Our  Jewish 
soldiers  of  industry  will  convert  the  sword  into  a 
ploughshare,  and,  with  the  labor  of  their  hands, 
they  shall  fasten  the  hold  of  our  people  upon  the 
soil  of  our  ancestors.  The  European  catastrophe 
has  created  the  very  condition  whereby  such  an 
army  can  be  readily  organized.  There  will  be  hun- 


A  JEWISH  INDUSTRIAL  ARMY  itil 

dreds  of  thousands  of  our  soldier-brethren  who  will 
return  from  the  wars  to  the  smouldering  ruins  of 
their  villages,  and  to  homes  bereft  of  parents,  wives, 
and  children.  Thousands  of  these  will  welcome  an 
association  whereby  their  lives  will  be  made  fruitful 
in  a  peaceful  struggle  of  our  people  for  a  future 
home  in  Palestine.  And  if  we  shall  offer  to  these 
soldiers  of  misfortune  not  only  an  ideal  for  which 
they  may  strive  and  labor,  but  also  the  assurance  of 
a  comfortable  existence  in  the  Holy  Land,  we  shall 
create  a  Jewish  Industrial  Army  that  might  rival,  in 
numbers,  our  man  contribution  to  the  World  War. 

Indeed,  we  have  already  made  a  beginning  by 
despatching  a  medical  unit  to  Palestine — recruited 
by  the  Zionist  Organization,  from  among  Amer- 
ican citizens.  We  have  been  prepared,  therefore,  to 
take  a  momentous  step — the  recruiting  of  a  pioneer 
industrial  army  for  Palestine. 

This  is  not  the  time  to  formulate  the  details  of 
such  an  organization.  It  will  suffice,  for  the  pres- 
ent, to  confine  ourselves  to  the  main  outlines.  Let 
the  Zionist  Organization  of  America  issue  a  call  for 
volunteers  from  among  those  Jews  who  are  ready 
to  do  yeoman  service  in  Erez  Israel.  Let  us  ask  for 
enlistments  for  a  period  of  two  years,  as  soldier- 
workers  in  an  industrial  army  for  Palestine.  Let  us 


102  SOCIAL  ZIONISM 

select  an  American  Palestine  commission  (consist- 
ing of  7  or  9  members)  who  will  serve  as  the  Execu- 
tive Commmittee  for  this  army — as  the  "general 
staff,"  who  will  select  the  subordinate  captains,  lieu- 
tenants, etc. 

While  the  organization  and  the  method  of 
activity  would  be  in  accordance  with  military  disci- 
pline, the  subject  matter  and  the  plan  of  work 
would  be  industrial.  This  army  would  be  utilized  to 
rebuild  the  devastated  portions  of  the  cities  of 
Palestine,  to  plant  trees  for  the  reforestation  of 
Palestine,  to  construct  roads,  and,  most  important 
of  all,  to  undertake  systematic  agricultural  activity 
with  a  view  of  raising  a  large  food  supply  foi 
the  members  of  the  industrial  army  as  well  as  for 
the  other  inhabitants  of  Palestine.  It  is  obvious 
that  for  such  work  women  will  be  as  valuable  as 
men,  and  our  industrial  army  would,  therefore,  ad- 
mit men  and  women  (between  the  ages  of  18  and 
40)  who  will  have  passed  the  necessary  physical 
test. 

We  might  send  the  advance  guard  of  this  army 
when  our  volunteers  will  number  at  least  500,  and 
we  shall  continue  to  increase  this  force  from  time 
to  time  as  occasion  requires.  We  shall  not  place 
any  restriction  upon  the  kinds  of  work  in  which  our 


A  JEWISH  INDUSTRIAL  ARMY  103 

army  will  engage,  for  that  must  be  determined  di- 
rectly by  its  "general  staff."  The  army,  however, 
should  work  only  upon  lands  belonging  to  the  Zion 
Commonwealth.  (It  will  be  necessary,  as  part  of 
this  plan,  to  undertake  a  large  campaign  for  land 
purchase  through  the  Zion  Commonwealth  as  the 
representatives  of  the  Zionist  Organization  of 
America.) 

The  Zionist  Organization  of  America  would 
guarantee  to  each  soldier  in  this  pioneer  industrial 
army  the  necessary  food  and  shelter  during  the 
period  of  his  enlistment  and  a  small  minimum  wage, 
with  the  understanding,  however,  that  he  would 
participate  in  the  future  profits  that  the  industrial 
army  might  secure.  Furthermore,  this  industrial 
army,  while  it  might  begin  its  work  as  a  temporary 
expedient  incidental  to  the  Great  War,  ought  to  sur- 
vive as  a  permanent  feature  in  the  future  Jewish 
state.  All  those,  of  course,  who  might  desire  to 
withdraw  at  the  end  of  the  term  of  their  enlistment 
would  be  free  to  do  so,  but  for  those  who  desire  to 
continue  their  association,  the  term  of  enlistment 
would  be  regarded  merely  as  preparatory  work,  and 
full  voting  rights  with  participation  in  profits  should 
be  offered  to  those  who  determine  to  remain  in- 
definitely as  members  of  the  Industrial  Army. 


104 


SOCIAL  ZIONISM 


Such  a  co-operative  Industrial  Army  may  be 
utilized,  ultimately,  for  the  introduction  of  a  better 
and  nobler  social  system.  Beginning  with  the  prin- 
ciple of  a  minimum  wage  for  its  workers,  and  the 
division  of  the  surplus  profits  among  its  members,  It 
might  make  proper  provision  for  old  and  retired 
workers,  for  pensions,  for  free  medical  service,  and 
for  all  other  features  that  together  constitute  a  true 
co-operative  commonwealth. 

We  have  offered  up  to  the  Angel  of  Death  hun- 
dreds of  thousands  of  our  brethren  on  the  battle- 
fields of  Europe,  for  the  realization  of  the  Interna- 
tional ideal  of  Democracy.  Let  us  take  the  remnant 
of  this  army  and  offer  it  to  the  Angel  of  Life  in 
Palestine,  and  Jewish  nationalism  must  triumph. 
Let-  us  build  up  a  Jewish  Industrial  Army  with  a 
membership  of  only  ten  per  cent  of  our  man-con- 
tribution to  the  World  War,  and  the  House  of  Israel 
is  re-established. 

A  Jewish  Industrial  Army  in  Palestine,  organ- 
ized on  the  principle  of  voluntary  enlistment  and 
co-operation,  would  assure  us  a  preponderant  Jew- 
ish population  in  a  single  generation.  Such  an 
army  of  a  hundred  thousand  "soldiers  in  industry," 
in  the  great  struggle  of  man  against  nature — in  the 
battle  of  the  Jew  for  the  peaceful  conquest  of  the 


A  JEWISH  INDUSTRIAL  ARMY  105 

land  of  his  fathers — might  serve  as  the  model  for 
the  nations  in  the  long  drawn-out  battle  for  social 
justice.    It  might  be  the  impetus  for  the  regenera- 
tion of  modern  society.    It  would  form  the  basis  for 
a  new  and  higher  kind  of  a  state,  in  which  politics 
would  be  subordinated  to  social  welfare,  and  laws 
of  social  justice  would  take  the  place  of  political 
chicanery  and  diplomatic  embroilments.    Whatever 
be  the  political  shell  within  which  Palestine  might 
be  enclosed  by  the  peace  terms,  we  might  be  able 
to  recreate  Jewish  national  life  and  Jewish  cultural 
values  through  the  social,  economic  and  industrial 
forces  evolved  by  the  Zion  Commonwealth  and  the 
Jewish  Industrial  Army.    By  all  means,  let  us  have 
favorable    political   conditions   in   Palestine — such 
conditions  are  the  prime  requisites  for  Jewish  prog- 
ress; but  the  rest  depends  not  upon  the  good  will 
of  the  nations  of  the  world  and  not  upon  our  good 
resolutions  here,  but  almost  exclusively  upon  what 
we  Jews  shall  do  in  Palestine,  and  not  merely  for 
Palestine.  The  Jewish  Industrial  Army  and  the  Zion 
Commonwealth  will  conquer  for  us  the  land  of  our 
forefathers   by   the   long   established   principle   of 
peaceful  penetration.    At  the  same  time,  it  may  give 
us  the  opportunity  through  which  the  Jew   can 
translate  into  modern  terms  the  message  of  the 


106 


SOCIAL  ZIONISM 


prophets  of  Israel.  It  will  demonstrate,  in  a  con- 
crete way,  the  Jewish  contribution  to  the  world, 
"And  the  nations  shall  see  thy  righteousness,"  O 
Zion,  "And  men  shall  call  thee  by  a  new  name, 
which  the  mouth  of  the  Lord  shall  pronounce." 
(Isaiah,  Chap.  XLJI.) 


CHAPTER    5. 

THE  ZIONIST  STATE  AND  THE  LAND 
PROBLEM 

1.     Her?/  and  Social  Zionism 

THE  Balfour  Declaration  endorsing  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  Jewish  State  in  Palestine  under 
the  auspices  of  Great  Britain,  and  the  subse- 
quent capture  of  Jerusalem  by  the  British  forces 
on  December  10,  1917,  have  brought  to  the  fore- 
front the  pure  political  Zionism  as  first  enunciated 
by  Herzl.  These  epoch-making  events  have  caused 
us,  for  the  time  being,  to  look  with  eyes  of  pity 
upon  these  poor  benighted  "Chovevei  Zion"  who 
placed  their  reliance  upon  colonies  in  Palestine  and 
upon  Jewish  immigration  to  Erez  Israel,  instead  of 
fixing  their  attention  upon  the  grand  political  ef- 
forts of  Herzl  and  his  followers.  When  with  these 


*)     See  Appendix  Q. 


108 


SOCIAL  ZIONISM 


are  contrasted  the  truly  extraordinary  results 
achieved  during  the  last  year  through  political 
activity,  we  might  indeed  be  tempted  to  regard  all 
previous  practical  work  in  Palestine  as  unnecessary, 
or  worse,  since  the  very  existence  of  the  Jewish  col- 
onies caused  the  loss  of  many  Jewish  lives  in  the 
Palestinian  war  zone. 

Such  a  view,  in  which  the  old  controversy  be- 
tween Political  Zionism  and  Practical  Zionism  is 
revived  to  the  disparagement  of  the  latter,  is  false 
simply  because  it  presents  only  a  half  truth.  It  is 
a  fact  that  if  we  had  only  three  Jewish  colonies 
in  Palestine,  instead  of  over  forty,  our  loss  in  man 
power  would  be  less — but  our  right  to  Palestine 
would  be  commensurately  smaller.  We  cannot  rest 
our  claim  to  the  old  Jewish  land  solely  upon  the 
rights  which  accrue  to  us  as  the  descendants  of 
Ancient  Israel.  Rights  grow  rusty  with  age,  and 
an  effective  moral  statute  of  limitations  runs 
against  old  wrongs  that  fail  to  be  emphasized  from 
generation  to  generation.  The  whole  truth  would 
make  us  realize  that  our  past  practical  efforts  in 
Palestine — the  successful  Jewish  colonies — consti- 
tute the  foundation  of  our  political  structure.  The 
present  Jewish  population  of  Palestine,  small  as 
it  is,  strengthens  immeasurably  our  ancient  rights 


ZIONIST  STATE  AND  THE  LAND  PROBLEM      109 

to  the  land,  and  every  Jew  in  the  Land  of  Israel 
to-day  is  an  extra  argument  for  the  Jewish  Redemp- 
tion of  Palestine.  The  hundred  thousand  Jews  in 
Palestine  present  a  fact  of  impressive  "practical" 
politics. 

Perhaps,  the  same  truth  can  be  visualized  from 
another  angle.  'Because  we  have  only  one  hundred 
thousand  Jews  in  Palestine,  among  five  hundred 
thousand  non-Jews,  the  British  Declaration  signi- 
fies only  a  splendid  opportunity,  which,  however, 
the  Jews  of  the  world  must  utilize,  by  converting 
our  present  minority  into  a  Jewish  majority  in 
Palestine.  Until  we  have  a  predominant  majority 
of  Jews  in  Palestine,  the  land  is  only  potentially 
ours — and  Great  Britain  has  the  difficult  task  of 
acting  as  trustee  for  us  until  we  shall  have  taken 
possession  of  the  land  of  Israel. 

If  we  are  "practical  politicians"  we  will  recog- 
nize that  "possession  is  nine-tenths  of  the  law," 
and,  indeed,  our  practical  efforts  in  Palestine  were 
really  political  efforts  in  the  highest  sense  of  that 
word.  This  is  evidenced  by  the  fact  that  no  matter 
how  many  Jewish  lives  might  have  been  lost,  Pales- 
tine to-day  would  be  irrevocably  Jewish,  if  the 
statistics  of  Palestine  were  reversed — if  among  a 
population  of  five  hundred  thousand  Jews  there 


110  SOCIAL  ZIONISM 

would  be  scattered  one  hundred  thousand  non-Jews. 
In  that  case,  the  British  Declaration  would  be  the 
Jewish  Declaration  of  Independence,  since  the  popu- 
lation of  Palestine,  with  the  financial  help  of  the 
Jews  of  the  world,  could  safely  assume,  immedi- 
ately, the  role  of  a  Jewish  Republic.  From  that 
point  of  view,  our  practical  work  in  Palestine  is  the 
only  sure  foundation  for  our  political  efforts  and 
represents  our  greatest  contribution  towards  the 
ultimate  establishment  of  the  Jewish  State. 

And  yet,  Herzl  was  right  in  his  opposition  to 
small  scale  colonization.  Some  of  his  followers  have 
endeavored  to  twist  his  message  into  a  mere  politi- 
cal formula.  Herzl,  however,  was  not  a  crafty  poli- 
tician, but  a  social  prophet,  and  it  is  high  time  that 
we  begin  to  appreciate  the  "Social  Zionism"  of  the 
author  of  the  Judenstatt  and  Altneuland.  Social 
Zionism  comprehends  both  Practical  and  Political 
Zionism,  and  supplements  the  two  by  the  concept 
of  a  Jewish  Commonwealth  in  Zion  which  would 
serve  as  a  model  for  the  nations  in  the  age-long 
battle  for  social  Justice. 

To  assure  the  triumph  of  Social  Zionism  it  is 
essential  that  Palestine  should  not  copy  all  the 
"vested  wrongs"  of  modern  society.  If  the  Jews 
would  to-day  constitute  a  majority  of  the  popula- 


ZIONIST  STATE  AND  THE  LAND  PROBLEM      111 

tion  of  Palestine,  we  might  have  had  a  Jewish  Re- 
public, but  with  no  distinct  contribution  to  offer 
to  the  world,  at  the  outset.  It  was  necessary  that 
the  land  should  lie  fallow,  so  that  when  we  begin 
to  build  the  structure  of  the  Jewish  Common- 
wealth we  can  be  free  to  fit  the  stones  of  the  House 
of  Israel  with  Justice  and  Righteousness. 

2.     Land  Value  Taxation 

Let  us  examine  specific  facts.  The  land  ques- 
tion is  perhaps  the  most  important  social  and  eco- 
nomic problem  of  the  present  day.  As  civilization 
progresses,  there  is  a  large  increase  in  population 
and  wealth,  and  these,  in  turn,  add  enormously  to 
land  values.  So  long  as  raw  land  is  permitted  to 
be  held  by  individuals  as  private  property,  we  are 
practically  placing  in  the  hands  of  landlords  the 
power  of  taxation,  since  they  are  permitted  to  levy 
upon  persons  and  business  activities  a  tax,  in  the 
form  of  ground  rent,  commensurate  with  the  neces- 
sity for  the  use  of  such  land.  Now  the  landlord 
may  be  a  child,  an  insane  person  confined  in  an 
asylum,  or  even  a  criminal  serving  a  jail  sentence — 
so  that  he  could  not  personally  render  any  service 
which  would  help  to  make  his  land  valuable — yet, 
in  any  case,  the  guardian  of  this  defective  person 


112 


SOCIAL  ZIONISM 


would  collect  rents  not  for  services  rendered,  but 
simply  as  a  tax  upon  those  who  might  desire  to 
use  certain  pieces  of  land  to  which  the  owner  holds 
legal  title.  Thus,  tribute  is  levied  by  our  landlords 
for  every  child  that  is  born,  for  every  immigrant 
who  comes  to  our  shores,  and  for  every  invention 
that  the  age  brings  forth,  because  every  increase 
in  population  and  wealth,  and  very  improvement  in 
science  and  industry,  automatically  increases  land 
values. 

It  is  obvious  that  if  the  legal  title  to  all  the 
land  would  be  in  the  hands  of  the  community — the 
State  or  Nation — the  rents  or  taxes  for  the  use  of 
this  land  would  come  into  the  public  treasury.    In 
that  event,  the  income  would  be  utilized  for  the 
equal  benefit  of  all,  instead  of  being  reserved  for 
the  sole  advantage  of  a  relatively  small  class  of 
land  owners.     For  example,  the  rocky  island  of 
Manhattan  is  the  most  valuable  portion  of  the  City 
of   New   York,   the   raw   land    (exclusive   of   any 
building  or  improvements,  which  are  separately  as- 
sessed)  being  valued  at  close  to  four  billions  of 
dollars.    Three  hundred  years  ago  this  island  was 
purchased  from  the  Indians  for  trinkets  worth  $24. 
Had  the  early  Dutch  settlers  realized  the  advantage 
of  holding  legal  title   (as  public  property)  to  the 


21ONIST  STATE  AND  THE  LAND  PROBLEM      113 

land  of  this  island,  the  City  of  New  York  to-day 
would  be  an  enormously  rich  landlord,  and  the  rent- 
als from  ground  rent  would  be  shared  equally  by 
all  residents.  An  economist  has  estimated  that  by 
simply  reserving  ownership  to  the  land  values  of 
Manhattan  (not  including  Brooklyn,  or  the  other 
boroughs)  the  City  of  New  York,  without  any  extra 
effort  on  its  part,  would  secure  such  a  large  annual 
income  that  it  would  be  able  to  distribute,  as  a 
bonus,  to  every  family  in  the  City  of  New  York, 
over  four  dollars  per  week.  Such  a  public  income 
would  enable  us  to  abolish  poverty. 

However,  it  is  a  difficult  task  to  revoke  the 
mistakes  of  the  past.  Should  the  present  citizens 
of  New  York  attempt  to  undo  the  work  of  the 
founders  of  New  Amsterdam  and  redeem  the  land 
of  Manhattan,  as  public  property,  they  would  be 
met  by  the  stern  argument  of  "confiscation"  of 
present  legal  rights  and  by  the  strong  opposition 
of  intrenched  wealth.  (It  might  even  be  found  less 
expensive  to  repurchase  t^e  land  of  Manhattan  at 
the  assessed  value,  rather  than  engage  in  a  long 
drawn  out  political  battle,  probably  lasting  over  a 
generation,  when  the  camp  lign  contributions  alone 
might,  in  the  long  run,  oqual  the  present  land 
values.)  Fortunately,  no  ;  uch  condition  faces  us 


114 


SOCIAL  ZIONISM 


in  Palestine.  We  are  almost  in  a  condition  of  estab- 
lishing our  New  Amsterdam  at  the  present  time,  so 
that  we  may  profit  from  the  mistakes  of  the  past. 
There  is  no  large  vested  interest  in  Palestine  which 
would  oppose  our  efforts,  and  to-day  we  can  pur- 
chase lands,  in  the  name  of  the  Jewish  State,  which 
will  prove  to  be  of  incalculable  value  in  the  future. 
Whether  we  recognize  it  or  not,  it  is  a  fact 
that  from  day  to  day  we  are  fashioning  our  future 
Jewish  State.  The  question  of  social  justice  can- 
not be  postponed,  as  has  often  been  proposed,  until 
after  we  have  a  full  fledged  national  government  in 
Palestine.  It  might  then  be  too  late  to  reform  our 
social  structure  without  a  costly  revolution  that 
may  bring  into  question  the  very  existence  of  the 
Jewish  State.  Every  Jew  who  migrates  to  Pales- 
tine brings  stones  out  of  which  will  be  erected  the 
House  of  Israel,  and  the  completed  structure  will 
reflect  our  various  ideals  and  our  labors.  If  we 
permit  ourselves  to  be  swayed  solely  by  political 
considerations,  and  neglect  the  opportunity  to  rear 
in  Palestine  a  Jewish  state  that  may  serve  as  a 
model  for  all  nations — as  a  living  illustration  of  a 
regime  of  social  justice — we  will  be  adjudged,  by 
future  generations  of  Palestine  Jews,  as  guilty  of 


ZIONIST  STATE  AND  THE  LAND  PROBLEM      115 

the  greatest  crimes  in  social  life — the  failure  to 
realize  the  unique  opportunities  of  our  own  time. 

Now,  the  fundamental  question  in  political  life 
is  taxation.  From  the  days  when  the  Patricians 
and  Plebeians  fought  over  the  share  which  each 
should  contribute  to  the  Roman  State,  down  to  the 
time  when  the  English  Parliament  crippled  the  Gov- 
ernment of  Charles  I  by  refusing  to  vote  funds 
necessary  for  the  conduct  of  public  affairs,  taxation 
has  been  used  as  a  means  both  of  upliftment  as 
well  as  degradation.  Through  a  cleverly  devised 
so-called  "protective"  tariff,  we  can  cast  the  burden 
of  government  on  the  poor,  while  through  income 
and  inheritance  taxes  we  might  "confiscate"  the 
wealth  of  the  rich.  "Taxation  without  Representa- 
tion" was  the  primary  cause  for  the  establishment 
of  the  United  States,  even  as  the  financial  bank- 
ruptcy of  France  in  1789,  as  a  result  of  an  unjust 
and  inefficient  system  of  taxation,  was  the  great 
incentive  towards  the  French  Revolution.  If  the 
past  is  any  guide  to  the  future,  the  prosperity  and 
progress  of  Palestine  will  depend,  largely,  upon  a 
just  and  equitable  system  of  taxation.  Such  taxa- 
tion must  be  based  upon  the  theory  of  benefits  con- 
ferred by,  and  advantages  gained  through,  the 
Government — any  other  kind  of  taxation,  which  is 


116  SOCIAL  ZIONISM 

not  primarily  concerned  with  benefits  but  is  based 
s'mply  on  the  coercive  power  of  the  State,  is  unjust 
and  represents  a  legalized  robbery  of  the  people. 
Prom  such  an  analysis  we  must  conclude  that  a 
proper  basis  of  taxation  must  be  such  that  the  Gov- 
ernment will  take  for  taxation  purposes  just  that 
increase  in  value  which  the  Government  itself  adds, 
by  virtue  of  the  benefits  which  it  confers — namely, 
the  police  and  fire  protection,  schools,  etc. 

Concretely,  if  Great  Britain  should  immediately 
assume  the  guardianship  of  Palestine  (as  trustee 
for  the  future  Jewish  Government),  the  land  of 
Palestine  will  immediately  increase  in  value  to  an 
enormous  extent.  This  increase  would  be  due 
solely  to  the  conviction  that  under  British  control 
life  and  property  would  be  safeguarded  and  the 
economic  development  of  the  country  would  be  as- 
sured. Now  this  increase  in  land  values  would  be 
the  direct  benefit  conferred  by  the  new  government, 
without  any  help  whatsoever  from  the  present-day 
land  owners.  Therefore,  in  logic  and  in  justice, 
this  increase  in  land  values  ought  to  be  appropriated 
by  the  government  in  the  shape  of  a  special  land 
value  tax.  To  achieve  such  a  program  of  just  taxa- 
tion, the  commission  which  is  to  administer  Pales- 
tine should  be  given  the  right  expressly  to  assess 


ZIONIST  STATE  AND  THE  LAND  PROBLEM      117 

and  value  all  plots  of  land  as  of  August  1,  1914 
(immediately  before  the  Great  War) .  Tne  Palestine 
commission,  and,  thereafter,  its  successor,  the  Gov- 
ernment of  Palestine,  would  then  prooceed  to  im- 
pose an  annual  land  value  tax  upon  all  the  plots  of 
land  under  its  control,  whereby  excess  unearned 
value  which  might  have  been  added  to  such  land 
since  August  1,  1914,  exclusive,  of  course,  of  all 
improvements  made  by  the  owner  or  the  tenant, 
would  go  into  the  treasury  of  the  Government. 
This  would  result  in  giving  to  the  Government  the 
values  which  society  itself  (as  distinguished  from 
the  individual  land  owners)   is  creating  from  day 
to  day,  while  reserving  the  rights  of  the  land  own- 
ers to  the  values  which  they  held  in  the  best  days 
that  Palestine  has  known  in  Modern  times.     Such 
a  system  of  taxation  would  eliminate  land  specula- 
tion, since  all  excess  unearned  values  would  go  to 
the  Government  instead  of  to  land  speculators. 

In  order  to  understand  the  full  effects  of  such 
a  system  of  taxation,  let  us  examine  the  picture  that 
Palestine  might  present  to  us  if  we  failed  to  adopt 
land  value  taxation.  Present  land  owners  of  Pales- 
tine, who,  in  the  main,  have  done  little  to  develop 
the  country,  would  reap  a  golden  harvest  from  the 
establishment  of  a  new  government;  and  with  the 


118  SOCIAL  ZIONISM 

influx  of  Jews,  land  values  would  go  sky-high,  so 
that  every  Jew  who  migrated  to  Palestine  from 
Russia,  Roumania,  or  America — a  pioneer  in  the 
Jewish  Renaissance — would  be  compelled  to  pur- 
chase lands  at  inflated  values  or  pay  exhorbitant 
rents,  thereby  helping  to  develop  a  class  of  absentee 
Palestinian  landlords,  who  would  be  spending  their 
incomes  (obtained  from  Palestinian  workers),  and 
idling  their  time  in  the  luxurious  capitals  of  the 
world.  In  effect  it  would  be  enacting  a  law  for  the 
restriction  of  Jewish  immigration  into  Palestine, 
since  it  would  make  it  difficult  for  poor  Jews  to 
secure  land  or  living  quarters  on  fair  terms.  Now 
there  is  no  reason  why  we  should  pour  wealth  into 
the  hands  of  those  who  happen  to  hold  title  to  lands 
in  Palestine — when  the  increased  value  will  be  due 
not  to  labor  on  the  part  of  the  landlords,  but  to 
the  new  government  which  Zionists  will  have  estab- 
lished. We  should  reserve  all  the  rights  to  the  land 
owners  as  such  land  values  existed  on  August  1, 
1914,  but  every  increase  in  land  value  since  that 
date  must,  in  justice,  go  to  the  Government  which 
is  making  possible  such  increase.  Furthermore, 
since  the  Government  must  have  taxes  to  support 
it,  we  will  be  confronted  with  the  alternative  of 
taking  it  from  the  land  which  the  Government  has 


ZIONIST  STATE  AND  THE  LAND  PROBLEM      119 

itself  increased  in  value,  or  through  other  methods 
of  taxation  (like  taxes  on  sugar,  coffee  ,tea,  income 
tax,  customs  dues,  etc.).  In  the  latter  case,  we  can 
appreciate  the  injustice  of  such  action  if  we  realize 
that  it  would  mean  that  the  working  men  and 
women  would  have  to  carry  the  burden  of  Govern- 
ment in  addition  to  paying  for  the  increased  land 
values  which  they,  and  the  Government,  have  made 
possible. 

On  the  other  hand,  if  taxation  be  raised  from 
the  unearned  land  values,  no  one  would  be  disturbed 
in  the  possession  of  their  lands,  but  all  land  owners 
would  pay  taxes,  annually,  equivalent  to  the  annual 
rental  upon  the  increased  land  values  (exclusive  of 
buildings  and  improvements)  since  August  1,  1914. 
This  is  only  another  way  of  saying  that  the  money 
secured  through  increased  land  values  will  be  util- 
ized for  the  equal  benefit  of  all  (in  the  shape  of 
police  protection,  schools,  municipal  theatres,  etc.), 
instead  of  being  diverted  for  the  exclusive  benefit  of 
a  landlord  calss. 

Finally,  since  the  excess  land  values  beyond 
that  as  assessed  on  August  1,  1914,  would  be  vir- 
tually owned  by  the  State,  through  its  power  of 
taxation,  it  is  obvious  that  whenever  the  State 
should  find  it  necessary  to  secure  possession  of 


120  SOCIAL  ZIONISM 

certain  plots  of  land  (by  exercising  the  power  of 
eminent  domain)  it  will  have  a  fixed  price  which  it 
should  pay  to  the  land  owners  (besides,  of  course, 
paying  for  all  buildings  and  improvements),  namely, 
the  value  of  the  land  as  assessed  on  August  1, 
1914. 

This  system  of  taxation  will  give  us  an  instru- 
ment for  the  Jewish  resettlement  of  Palestine, 
which  will  prove  to  be  of  incalculable  value,  while 
at  the  same  time  it  will  insure  control  over  public 
utilities  through  the  power  which  it  will  exert  over 
land  values.  This  plan  will  not  deprive  any  present- 
day  landlords  in  Palestine  of  any  rights,  and  yet,  it 
will  give  to  the  future  inhabitants  of  the  Holy  Land 
the  profits  equivalent  to  the  increase  in  land  values 
which  they,  by  their  presence  and  work,  will  have 
made  possible. 

3.     The  Zjon  Commonwealth  and  Land  Purchase 

Intimately  connected  with  the  land  problem  is 
the  question  of  colonization.  It  is  incumbent  on 
the  Zionist  organization  to  develop  comprehensive 
plans  for  the  Jewish  colonization  of  Palestine.  No 
system  of  taxation,  however  just  and  beneficent, 
will  immediately  place  thousands  of  Jews  on  the 
soil  of  Palestine,  although  such  taxation  may  prove 


ZIONIST  STATE  AND  THE  LAND  PROBLEM      121 

to  be  a  most  valuable  adjunct  towards  towards  the 
Jewish  Redemption  of  Palestine.  For  such  a  re- 
demption we  need  (1)  land,  and  (2)  settlers.  A 
system  of  taxation  as  outlined  above  will  enable  us 
to  secure  the  land  at  reasonable  prices,  since  the 
valuation  will  be  made  as  of  August  1,  1914,  instead 
of  upon  the  inflated  values  of  the  future.  Never- 
theless, it  is  necessary  to  accumulate  a  large  fund 
for  the  purpose  of  acquiring  Palestinian  lands  even 
at  this  fair  price.  The  Jewish  National  Fund,  which 
purchases  land  and  holds  title  in  the  interest  of  the 
entire  Jewish  Nation,  is,  unfortunately,  restricted  in 
its  activities,  because  it  must  depend  for  its  income 
upon  small  individual  contributions.  We  must  rein- 
force the  million  and  one-half  dollars  of  the  Jewish 
National  Fund  by  an  institution  which  will  make  a 
direct  appeal  to  each  individual  Jew  for  the  pur- 
chase of  a  plot  of  land  in  Palestine.  The  problem 
has  been,  hitherto,  how  to  enlist  the  financial  sup- 
port of  thousands  of  individual  Jews  (each  of  whom 
would  secure  his  farming  estate  in  Palestine),  ana 
yet  preserve  the  larger  Jewish  national  interests  of 
our  future  state.  This  problem  has  been  success- 
fully met  by  the  organization  of  the  Zion  Common- 
wealth, Inc.,  which  undertakes  to  buy  and  develop 
farming  lands  for  its  members  and  at  the  same  time 


122  SOCIAL  ZIONISM 

restricts  such  lands  for  farming  purposes  only,  while 
it  reserves  the  ownership  of  all  city,  town  and  indus- 
trial lands  to  the  community  as  a  whole.  Under  the 
Zion  Commonwealth  plan,  the  community  likewise 
has  the  right  to  repurchase  such  lands  (from  any 
of  its  members)  as  may  be  necessary  or  desirable 
for  city  or  industrial  purposes,  paying  therefor  only 
the  actual  agricultural  value. 

The  Zion  Commonwealth,  therefore,  might  be 
made  the  instrument  for  social  justice  in  the  land  of 
Israel.  Let  the  Zionist  organization  undertake  land 
purchase  in  Palestine,  through  the  Zion  Common- 
wealth, on  a  much  larger  scale  than  the  Jewish 
National  Fund  can  do,  at  the  present  time.  With  a 
fund  sufficiently  large  we  can  secure  all  the  desir- 
able lands  in  Palestine,  and,  at  the  same  time,  insure 
for  the  Jewish  settlers  all  the  future  profits  from 
city  and  industrial  lands.  Since  the  largest  increase 
in  land  values  accrue  from  such  lands,  and  since 
no  man  can  determine  with  certainty  the  future 
growth  of  any  city  or  locality,  the  Zion  Common- 
wealth will  prove  to  be  of  inestimable  value  in  the 
Jewish  Redemption  of  Palestine,  since,  through  its 
agency,  city  and  industrial  lands  (as  distinguished 
from  agricultural  lands  held  by  individuals)  become 
public  property,  and  the  large  rentals  from  such 


ZIONIST  STATE  AND  THE  LAND  PROBLEM      123 

lands  will  fall  to  the  public  in  the  shape  of  ground 
rents. 

4.     Political  and  Social  Zionism 

Just  because  of  the  marvelous  success  of  Zion- 
ism along  political  lines,  the  Zionist  Organization  is 
charged  with  new  duties  and  responsibilities.  As 
long  as  political  Zionism  continued  to  be  a  thing  of 
the  future,  we  might  have  been  persuaded  by  those 
who  asked  us  to  postpone  the  consideration  of  the 
character  of  the  Jewish  State  to  a  more  favorable 
time.  But  now  that  we  are  on  the  eve  of  realiza- 
tion of  tho  two  thousand-year-old  dream  of  the 
Ghetto,  it  behooves  us  to  heed  the  voices  that  have 
been  demanding  a  clear  formulation  of  the  social 
policies  of  the  Zionist  state. 

Morality  is  the  keynote  to  the  Hebraic  char- 
acter, and  history  has  shown  that  this  national 
genius  of  the  Jew  can  be  evolved  only  on  his  own 
soil.  The  Land  of  Israel  and  the  Children  of  Israel 
seem  to  be  the  only  elements  of  a  wonderful  com- 
pound. The  first  Hebrew  state  gave  to  the  world 
the  concept  of  Monotheism  and  the  fundamental 
principles  of  morality,  embellished  by  the  thoughts 
of  prophets  and  the  rhetoric  of  poets.  From  the 
second  Hebrew  state,  the  world  received  Christian- 


124  SOCIAL  ZIONISM 

ity  to  civilize  it  and  prepare  it  for  still  greater  ad- 
vances. But,  since  the  Jew  has  been  torn  from  his 
soil,  his  spiritual  growth  has  been  curtailed;  he  has 
been  denied  the  full  expression  of  his  genius.  And 
the  Land  of  Israel  seems  to  be  linked  in  a  common 
destiny  with  the  Children  of  Israel.  Let  but  her 
sons  and  daughters  return,  and  you  will  behold  the 
"Holy  Land"  once  more  as  the  Motherland  of  those 
eternal  principles  of  morality  and  religion,  making 
the  final  Hebrew  state  not  a  political  abstraction, 
but  a  "Social  Commonwealth  in  Zion,"  to  serve 
as  a  model  for  the  nations. 

Recall  the  cities  of  the  Old  Testament,  where 
the  criminal,  free  from  the  taint  of  wilful  wrong, 
might  flee  for  safety.  We  hope  to  build  a  nobler 
city  of  refuge,  a  home  not  for  the  criminal,  but  for 
the  genius  of  our  people — not  to  exist  as  prisoners 
until  the  death  of  the  High  Priest,  but  to  live  the 
life  of  super-men  in  a  Social  Commonwealth  of 
Israel. 


CHAPTER  6. 

A  JEWISH  COMMONWEALTH  IN  Z/OAT 

RESOLVED,  that  the  American  Jewish  Con- 
gress instruct  their  delegation  to  Europe  to 
co-operate  with  the  representatives  of 
other  Jewish  Organizations  and  specifically  with  the 
World  Zionist  Organization,  to  the  end  that  the 
Peace  Conference  may  recognize  the  aspirations 
and  historic  claims  of  the  Jewish  people  with 
regard  to  Palestine,  and  declare  that  in  accordance 
with  the  British  Government's  declaration  of 
November  2nd,  1917,  endorsed  by  the  Allied 
Governments  and  the  President  of  the  .United 
States,  there  shall  be  established  such  political,  ad- 
ministrative, and  economic  conditions  in  Palestine 
as  will  assure,  under  the  trusteeship  of  Great 
Britain,  acting  on  behalf  of  such  League  of  Nations 
as  may  be  formed,  the  development  of  Palestine  into 
a  Jewish  Commonwealth,  it  being  clearly  under- 
stood that  nothing  shall  be  done  which  shall  preju- 
dice the  civil  and  religious  rights  of  existing 
non-Jewish  communities  in  Palestine,  or  the  rights 


126  SOCIAL  ZIONISM 

and  political  status  enjoyed  by  Jews  in  any  other 
country. — Adopted  at  the  first  American  Jewish  Con- 
gress, December  17,  1918. 

In  an  article  appearing  in  the  Maccabaean 
magazine  for  October,  1910,  I  had  the  good  fortune 
to  use  the  phrase  which  is  the  title  of  this  essay— 
I  believe,  for  the  first  time  in  the  history  of 
Zionism.  At  a  later  date,  in  August,  1914,  a 
small  group  of  Zionists  who  were  interested  in 
the  land  problem  of  Palestine,  organized  a  corpo- 
ration, which  we  called  the  "Zion  Commonwealth," 
and  which  is  merely  the  abbreviated  form  of  the 
above  title. 

In  interpreting  the  phrase  "A  Jewish  Common- 
wealth," as  endorsed  by  the  first  American  Jewish 
Congress,  we  may  utilize  the  knowledge  gained 
through  the  use  of  this  phrase  during  the  last  eight 
years.  What  is  the  meaning  of  the  word  "Com- 
monwealth"? What  does  a  "Jewish  Common- 
wealth" signify? 

The  word  "Commonwealth"  came  into  cur- 
rent use  in  the  days  of  Oliver  Cromwell,  about  the 
middle  of  the  seventeenth  century.  Charles  I  was 
succeeded  by  a  government  known  as  the  English 
"Commonwealth,"  with  Oliver  Cromwell  as  the 


A  JEWISH  COMMONWEALTH  IN  ZION  127 

"Protector."  "Commonwealth"  was  used  by  the 
English  people  of  Cromwell's  time  in  the  sense  of 
common  weal  or  common  welfare,  i.  e.,  the  state 
was  to  be  the  guardian  of  the  common  welfare 
rather  than  the  instrument  of  kings,  with  their 
theory  about  divine  right. 

The  word  "Commonwealth/'  however,  has  a 
significance  beyond  the  mere  philalogical  connota- 
tion of  the  word.  It  has  a  meaning  that  has  been 
made  by  history,  and  perhaps  the  concrete  applica- 
tion of  the  word  by  the  makers  of  political  history 
is  more  important  for  our  consideration.  Now, 
firstly,  "Commonwealth"  is  never  used  as  the  name 
for  a  monarchial  state — it  refers  always  to  a 
Republican  form  of  government.  Whether  it  be  the 
Commonwealth  of  Cromwell,  the  Commonwealth  of 
Massachusetts,  under  the  Puritans,  the  Common- 
wealth of  Pennsylvania,  under  the  Protectorate  of 
William  Penn  and  his  successors,  or  the  present-day 
Commonwealth  of  Australia,  the  reference  Is  al- 
ways to  a  state  that  is  also  a  Republic,  resting  upon 
the  basis  of  "consent  of  the  governed."  But  Com- 
monwealth signifies  more  than  Republic.  A  Re- 
public may  be  also  an  Aristocratic  Republic  ruled 
by  a  few  noble  and  wealthy  families,  like  the  Re- 
publics of  Venice  and  Florence,  in  Medieval  Italy. 


128 


SOCIAL  ZIONISM 


A  Commonwealth  signifies — in  its  historical  uses — 
a  Democratic  Republic,  wherein  the  people  have  self- 
government.  Indeed,  in  each  of  the  two  conspicu- 
ous examples  of  Commonwealths  in  American  his- 
tory— Massachusetts  and  Pennsylvania — a  charter 
was  issued  by  the  King  of  Great  Britain,  whereby 
the  rights  and  privileges  of  the  population  were 
safeguarded,  just  as  in  a  written  constitution.  It 
was  only  when  the  charter  of  Massachusetts  was 
revoked  that  a  royal  governor  was  placed  over  the 
Bay  State.  Of  the  thirteen  colonies  in  America,  the 
crown  colonies  were  never  called  Commonwealths, 
that  name  being  applied,  usually,  to  governments 
operating  under  charters  and  "Protectors."  So 
also  in  the  case  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Australia, 
the  rights  of  the  people  are  determined  by  the  act 
of  the  Parliament  of  Great  Britain,  which  estab- 
lished the  Australian  Commonwealth — which  act 
may  be  construed  as  the  fundamental  law,  the 
charter,  or  the  constitution  of  Australia. 

We  may  conclude,  therefore,  that  a  Common- 
wealth has  at  least  two  distinct  characteristics: — 

(1)  It  is  a  government  in  which  the  people, 
as  a  whole,  in  contradistinction  to  any  single  class 
or  group,  constitute  the  ultimate  power  in  the  state 
— a  Democoratic  Republic. 


A  JEWISH  COMMONWEALTH  IN  ZION  129 

(2)  It  embraces  a  system  of  fundamental  laws 
or  a  constitution,  sometimes  called  a  charter,  which 
protects  all  the  people  against  any  illegal  acts  oi' 
the  constituted  authorities  and  which  safeguards 
the  liberty  of  the  individual  citizen. 

A  "Protector"  is,  usually,  the  guardian  of  the 
charter  of  the  Commonwealth.  In  the  case  of  the 
English  Commonwealth,  Cromwell  was  the  "Pro- 
tector"; in  the  case  of  Pennsylvania,  William  Penn 
and  his  successors  were  the  protectors ;  while  in  the 
case  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Australia,  the  Eng- 
lish Parliament  is,  necessarily,  the  "Protector." 

In  the  resolution  adopted  by  the  American  Jew- 
ish Congress,  "trustee"  is  used  in  place  of  "Pro- 
tector." Now,  in  law,  the  word  "trustee"  has  a 
fairly  definite  meaning.  It  is  the  designation  of  one 
who  is  holding  something  (which  is  not  his  own 
property)  for  someone,  who  gets  the  benefit  of  the 
property  so  held.  Furthermore,  a  trusteeship  lasts 
for  a  certain  period  of  time — although  it  may  not 
be  measurable  in  a  definite  number  of  years — as 
for  example,  during  the  lifetime  of  the  individual 
for  whose  benefit  the  trust  is  created,  or  until  the 
time  that  the  individual  in  question  may  be  able 
to  carry  out  a  certain  project.  To  apply  these  gen- 
eral principles  in  interpreting  our  concrete  case,  we 


130  SOCIAL  ZIONISM 

may  say  that  Great  Britain  is  to  become  the  trustee 
for  the  Jewish  Commonwealth  in  Palestine,  acting 
as  the  Trustee  of  the  Commonwealth,  until  the 
beneficiary  ,  the  Jewish  people  in  Palestine,  may  be 
able  to  receive  the  full  benefits  of  the  trust — until 
the  "infant  Republic"  can  stand  on  its  own  feet. 

Furthermore,  a  trustee  is  responsible  not  only 
to  the  individual  for  whose  benefit  he  is  holding 
the  property,  but  also  to  the  courts  of  justice,  or  a 
court  of  arbitration,  to  whom  he  must  account  for 
the  proper  execution  of  the  trust.  In  this  case, 
"such  League  of  Nations  as  may  be  formed"  is  the 
High  Court  of  Justice  and  Arbitration  to  whom 
Great  Britain  will  agree  to  render  the  account  of 
her  stewardship. 

Over  a  year  ago,  I  pointed  out  the  implications 
of  such  a  trusteeship  in  the  following  words: 

"The  Balfour  Declaration  is  not  only  an  im- 
portant political  event,  but  also  a  fact  of  extra- 
ordinary economic  and  social  significance.  Great 
Britain  practically  undertakes  to  act  as  trustee  of 
Palestine  for  the  Jewish  nation — to  act  as  its  fost.er- 
parent — until  our  people  are  strong  enough  to  make 
Palestine  their  own.  For  the  British  Declaration 
cannot  be  construed  to  signify  that  henceforth 
Israel  is  to  wander  in  a  happy  fools'  paradise.  The 


A  JEWISH  COMMONWEALTH  IN  ZION  131 

British  Declaration  is  simply  a  splendid  and  unique 
opportunity,  but  it  remains  for  the  Jews  of  the 
world  to  utilize  this  opportunity. 

"Great  Britain  might  have  declared  its  inten- 
tions simply  to  establish  Palestine  as  a  small  buffer 
state  under  its  protection,  and  in  that  event  we 
might  have  had  a  free  Palestine  without  a  Jewish 
nation  in  Palestine,  for  the  great  majority  of  the 
inhabitants  of  the  Holy  Land  to-day  are  non-Jews, 
who,  by  their  mere  numbers,  would  control  the 
political  structure  and  mould  the  character  of  the 
state.  In  view  of  that  fact,  England  has  taken  an 
important  forward  step — she  proposes  to  make  Pal- 
estine not  merely  an  insignificant  buffer  state,  but 
a  Homeland  for  the  Jewish  Nation" 

And  even  as  a  high-minded  judge  is  loathe  to 
appoint  more  than  one  trustee  for  the  execution  of 
a  trust,  since  in  numerous  counsellors  there  is  strife 
and  dissension,  even  so  the  Jewish  people  ask  for 
only  one  trustee  to  carry  out  the  decree  of  justice, 
in  the  creation  of  the  Jewish  Commonwealth.  Hav- 
ing found  a  "good  and  faithful  servant" — a  nation 
that  has  proven  itself  the  greatest  and  best  col- 
onizer in  history — it  is  altogether  fitting  and  proper 
that  the  Jewish  people  should  select  Great  Britain 
as  the  trustee  for  its  precious  inheritance — the  Land 


132 


SOCIAL  ZIONISM 


of  Israel,  Excepting  the  Jews,  the  English  are  the 
most  biblical  of  all  the  peoples  of  the  earth,  and  fate 
itself  decrees  that  the  latter  shall  stand  as  the 
guardian  over  the  heritage  of  the  "People  of  the 
Book." 

The  beneficiary  of  this  high  trust  is  the  Jewish 
people,  since  it  is  specifically  stated  that  a  Jewish 
Commonwealth  is  to  be  established — not  a  mere 
Palestinian  Commonwealth,  nor  a  Commonwealth 
in  Palestine.  The  latter  would  be  open  to  miscon- 
struction and  misinterpretation;  but  a  Jewish  Com- 
monwealth in  Zion  can  mean  only  one  thing, 
namely:  that  "with  due  regard  to  the  rights  of  the 
existing  inhabitants,"  which,  of  course,  all  Zionists 
are  desirous  and  anxious  to  safeguard,  there  shall 
be  re-established  in  Palestine,  the  Jewish  nation,  as 
of  old. 

It  is  perhaps  not  out  of  place  to  mention  that 
the  first  and  second  Hebrew  states,  from  the  days 
of  Joshua  until  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  under 
Titus,  have  been  usually  translated  into  English  by 
the  word  "Conmmonwealth."  May  we  add  that  in 
accordance  with  the  above  definition  of  that  word, 
the  God  of  Israel  was  the  "Protector"  of  the  Com- 
monwealth, and  his  covenant  with  the  People  of 
Israel  was  the  Charter  of  the  Commonwealth.  Pick- 


A  JEWISH  COMMONWEALTH  IN  ZION 


133 


Ing  up  the  broken  thread  of  our  history,  we  shall 
re-establish  the  Commonwealth  for  the  third  time, 
still  under  the  wings  of  the  ancient  "Protector,"  but, 
also  with  the  addition  of  the  modern  conception  of 
a  faithful  trustee.  This  trustee  is  to  be  named  in 
the  holy  covenant  of  the  peoples  of  the  world,  when 
they  establish  the  League  of  Nations — and  this  trus- 
tee, Great  Britain,  will  deliver  to  us  the  title  deed 
to  the  House  of  Israel. 

The  founder  of  modern  Zionism  dreamed  of  a 
charter  which  would  establish,  once  and  for  all,  the 
rights  of  the  Jewish  people  to  their  land.  Herzl  had 
a  vision  of  "a  scrap  of  paper"  which  would  trans- 
form the  "Promised  Land"  into  a  Jewish  Paradise. 
We  shall  behold  the  vision  which  was  denied  to  our 
great  leader.  A  Commonwealth  implies  a  charter — 
and  the  charter  will  be  granted  by  the  nations  of 
the  world,  so  that  the  dream  of  Herzl  shall  be 
realized. 


APPENDICES 

APPENDIX  A. 

Chapter  1  is  the  reproduction  of  an  article  which 
appeared  in  The  Maccabaean  Magazine  of  March,  1913. 
It  was  first  delivered  as  a  lecture  before  the  Collegiate 
Zionist  League,  in  the  City  of  New  York,  in  December, 
1912. 

APPENDIX  B. 

Part  1  of  Chapter  2  is  a  reproduction  (except  for 
minor  omissions)  of  an  article  appearing  in  The  Macca- 
baean Magazine  of  October,  1910. 

APPENDIX  C. 

Part  2  of  Chapter  2  is  largely  a  reproduction  of  a 
lecture  delivered  before  the  Collegiate  Zionist  League,  in 
the  City  of  New  York,  on  May  19,  1912,  which  was  after- 
wards published  in  The  Maccabaean  Magazine  of  June 
and  August,  1912. 

The  following  is  an  excerpt  from  an  article  written 
by  the  author,  appearing  in  The  Menorah  Journal  for 
August,  1918,  entitled  "How  Large  a  Population  Can 
Palestine  Support  ?"  It  shows  the  possible  future  develop- 
ment of  Palestine  as  a  centre  for  commerce  and  industry  • 

"The  most  careful  estimates  have  shown  that  Pales- 
tine has  an  area  of  not  less  than  thirteen  thousand  square 


APPENDICES  135 

miles — or  almost  one-and-a-half  times  the  size  of  the  State 
of  Massachusetts.  This  conclusion  is  based  upon  the  fol- 
lowing lines  as  the  boundaries  of  Palestine : — on  the  west, 
the  Mediterranean  Sea;  on  the  east,  a  line  near  the  Mecca 
(Pilgrims)  Railway;  on  the  north,  a  line  south  of  the  city 
of  Sidon,  running  eastward  to  the  Mecca  Railway,  and 
skirting  Damascus  to  the  south;  and  on  the  south,  the 
Arabian  Desert,  the  Gulf  of  Akaba  and  the  present  Egypt- 
ian boundary  (which  leaves  the  Mount  Sinai  Peninsula 
as  part  of  British  Egypt).  We  are,  therefore,  making  no 
claim  for  Palestine  as  it  existed  in  the  days  of  King 
Solomon,  when  the  eastern  border  reached  to  the 
Euphrates  River  (which  would  make  Palestine  include  an 
area  far  larger  than  our  estimate).  We  are  basing  our 
estimate  on  the  ancient  Palestine,  east  and  west  of  the 
Jordan,  giving  to  it,  however,  a  proper  southern  boundary, 
which  offers  access  to  the  Red  Sea. 

"We  shall  not  attempt  to  demonstrate,  however,  that 
Palestine  may  become  a  country  filled  with  factories  and 
labor  unions — although  the  production  of  cotton  and  wool, 
which  can  be  carried  on  in  Palestine  on  a  large  scale, 
would  give  the  opportunity  for  the  development  of  a  large 
clothing  industry  that  might  fill  the  demands  of  the  vari- 
ous Mediterranean  countries,  even  as  the  Jewish  clothing 
workers  of  New  York,  Philadelphia,  Chicago  and  Cleve- 
land are  supplying  the  clothing  for  a  vast  majority  of  the 
people  of  the  United  States.  We  should  rather  fix  our 
attention  upon  the  prospect  of  creating  in  Palestine  a  vast 
emporium  for  trade  and  exchange  between  the  East  and 
the  West — a  sort  of  Jewish  Department  Store,  having 


136  SOCIAL  ZIONISM 

as  its  customers  the  Western  nations  and  the  races  of  the 
Orient.  The  geographical  position  of  Palestine,  as  the 
connecting  link  between  three  continents,  as  the  natural 
highway  between  Europe,  Asia  and  Africa,  is  sufficient 
compensation  for  the  lack  of  such  minerals  as  coal  and 
iron.  Geography  has  made  Palestine  the  "jumping-off 
place"  for  the  trade  between  the  East  and  the  West,  oper- 
ating, at  the  same  time,  as  the  wall  which  separates  the 
Mediterranean  Sea,  from  the  Indian  Ocean,  and  the  path- 
way between  Egypt  and  India,  between  London  and 
Capetown. 

"The  Jew  is  perhaps  the  best  fitted,  by  his  character 
and  training,  for  playing  the  part  of  an  intermediary 
between  the  diverse  civilizations  which  stretch  away  from 
Palestine,  and  he  alone  can  convert  Palestine  into  a  great 
commercial  (and,  ultimately,  cultural)  exchange.  With 
harbors  at  Haifa,  Jaffa  and  Gaza  on  the  Mediterranean 
Sea,  and  Akaba  on  the  gulf  leading  to  the  Red  Sea, 
Palestine  should  become  the  junction  station  for  Medi- 
terranean and  Oriental  trade.  On  the  one  hand,  Haifa 
is  the  shortest  distance  between  Bagdad  and  the  Medi- 
terranean Sea;  on  the  other  hand,  the  port  of  Akaba 
would  enable  the  Jews  of  Palestine  to  trade  directly  with 
India  and  China,  without  the  necessity  of  using  the  Suez 
Canal. 

"The  map  itself  proves  to  us  that  we  need  have  no 
concern  for  the  future  of  a  Jewish  Palestine.  Haifa,  as 
a  city  of  trade  and  commerce,  might  easily  have  a  popu- 
lation of  a  million  or  more.  Akaba,  Jaffa,  Gaza,  Jerusa- 
lem and  the  cities  east  of  the  Jordan — created  by  the 


APPENDICES  137 

trade  route  between  Bagdad  and  the  Mediterranean  Sea, 
aided  by  the  fertile  lands  of  the  Hauran — might  give  us 
a  population  of  over  four  millions.  If  we  add  to  this 
an  agricultural  population  of  1,200,000  Jews  and  600,000 
non-Jews,  Palestine  would  have  a  total  population  of 
nearly  6,000,000  (or  nearly  ten  times  its  present  popu- 
lation) . 

"The  estimate  here  presented  is  conservative,  for  we 
have  shown  merely  that  in  a  district  larger  than  Holland 
(and  more  fertile  than  Holland),  we  shall  be  able  to 
place  a  population  not  so  large  as  that  of  the  Netherlands, 
in  spite  of  the  superior  geographical  position  of  the  ancient 
country  of  the  Jews." 

In  a  memorandum  prepared  by  the  author  and  pre- 
sented to  the  Honorable  Louis  D.  Brandeis  'by  Nahum 
Sokolow,  in  March,  1913,  the  proposed  company  for  Pal- 
estine activity  is  called  the  "American  Palestine  Com- 
pany." 

APPENDIX  D. 

Part  1  of  Chapter  3  is  the  reproduction  of  an  article 
appearing  in  The  Maccabaean  Magazine  of  September, 
1916. 

APPENDIX  E. 

Park  2  of  Chapter  3  is  the  reproduction  of  an  article 
.appearing  in  The  Maccabaean  Magazine  of  March,  1916. 
It  was  written  at  the  time  that  the  movement  for  the  hold- 
ing of  an  American  Jewish  Congress  was  in  its  critical 
period.  Both  part  1  and  part  2  of  Chapter  3,  while  not 


138  SOCIAL  ZIONISM 

an  integral  part  ofany  social  program  in  Zionism,  are  yet 
essential,  as  indicative  of  the  religious  and  moral  implica- 
tions that  are  sometimes  ignored  in  a  purely  political 
program. 

APPENDIX  F. 

Chapter  4  is  the  reproduction  of  an  article  appearing 
in  The  Maccabaean  Magazine  of  June,  1917.  It  was  first 
delivered  as  a  lecture  before  the  Hadassah  Zionist  Society 
of  Baltimore,  Md.,  on  May  6,  1917.  (In  addition,  a  small 
part  of  this  article  is  reproduced  from  an  article  appearing 
in  The  Maccabaean  Magazine  of  June,  1918,  and  entitled 
"A  Jewish  Industrial  Army  for  Palestine/') 

The  following  is  taken  from  the  Constitution  of  the 
Zion  Commonwealth,  which  aims  to  establish  Jewish  col- 
onists in  Palestine  on  the  basis  of  a  just  land  system : 

Article  I. 
PUBPOSE. 

We,  the  members  and  shareholders  of  the  Zion  Com- 
monwealth, Inc.,  have  organized  and  established  this  Com- 
pany for  the  purpose  of  aiding  in  the  settlement  of  Jews 
in  Palestine,  and  of  securing  for  our  members  and  their 
descendants  rights,  interests  and  privileges  in  lands  occu- 
pied by  the  Zion  Commonwealth,  Inc.,  to  the  end  that 
social  justice,  in  harmony  with  the  ideals  of  the  prophets 
of  Israel,  may  be  the  cornerstone  of  the  Jewish  Common- 
wealth in  Zion. 


APPENDICES  139 

Article  II. 

MEMBEESHIP. 

Every  Jew  or  Jewess,  twenty-one  years  of  age  and 
upwards,  is  eligible  to  membership,  but  the  applicant  must 
first  be  approved  by  a  majority  of  the  members  of  the 
Board  of  Directors,  and  must  subscribe  to  and  pay  for  one 
share  of  the  stock  of  the  Zion  Commonwealth,  Inc.,  and 
must  subscribe  to  one  or  more  Land  Cetrificates  of  the 
Zion  Commonwealth  Land  Fund.  The  participation  of 
shareholders  and  members  in  the  affairs  of  the  Zion  Com- 
monwealth, Inc.,  shall  be  regulated  by  Article  8  of  the 
Certificate  of  Incorporation,  as  follows : 

"Eighth.  The  shareholders  in  this  corporation 
shall  have  one  vote  each  irrespective  of  the  number 
of  shares  held  by  them ;  and  at  all  meetings  of  share- 
holders, whether  annual  or  special,  no  member  present 
shall  be  permitted  more  than  one  vote  on  all  meas- 
ures presented  before  the  meeting  and  one  vote  for 
each  member  of  the  Board  of  Directors  to  be  elected." 

Article  IV. 

THE  LAND   CEBTIFICATE    TRUST   FUND. 

A  "Land  Certificate  Fund"  is  hereby  established  for 
the  purpose  of  collecting,  preserving,  accumulating  and 
investing  all  moneys  paid  in  installments  under  the  Land 
Certificate  Agreements  between  the  Zion  Commonwealth, 
Inc.,  and  its  members.  The  trustes  of  this  fund  shall  con- 
sist of  five  members,  one  of  whom  shall  be  the  treasurer  of 
the  Zion  Commonwealth,  Inc.,  and  the  remaining  four 


140  SOCIAL  ZIONISM 

trustees  shall  be  elected  for  a  period  of  two  years  (two 
chosen  every  year  to  hold  office  for  two  years)  by  the 
holders  of  the  par  value  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars 
[$250]  )  giving  the  right  to  one  vote  for  each  trustee.  The 
election  of  trustees,  exclusive  of  the  Treasurer  of  the  Zion 
Commonwealth,  Inc.,  shall  be  held  immediately  following 
the  annual  meeting  of  the  shareholders  of  the  Zion  Com- 
monwealth, Inc.,  and  under  the  rules  and  regulations 
provided  by  the  Board  of  Directors.  The  chairman  of  the 
Board  of  Trustees  shall  be  selected  by  the  Trustees  each 
year. 

Article  V. 

BIGHTS  AND  DUTIES  OF  TRUSTEES. 

It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  to  keep 
safely  all  funds  entrusted  to  its  care  and  to  invest  and 
re-invest  such  funds  here  and  abroad;  to  authorize  and 
approve  such  expenditures  as  may  be  necessary  for  propa- 
ganda purposes  and  in  the  investigation,  purchase,  occu- 
pation and  development  of  land  in  Palestine  (and  terri- 
tory adjacent  thereto)  and  to  deliver  to  each  member  of 
the  Zion  Commonwealth,  Inc.,  who  shall  have  duly  paid 
up  all  the  required  installments  under  any  Land  Certificate 
Agreement,  a  deed  certifying  that  such  member  is  entitled 
to  the  use,  benefit  and  advantage  of  the  surface  value  of  a 
certain  piece  of  cultivated  agricultural  land  (specified  in 
the  deed),  reserving  to  the  Zion  Commonwealth,  Inc.,  the 
commercial,  industrial  and  mineral  interests  in  said  land. 
No  money  may  be  expended  out  of  the  Land  Certificate 
Fund  unless  formally  approved  in  writing  by  at  least  three 


^ 


c       *• 

•  ^ 


APPENDICES  141 

trustees,  and  after  request  for  such  appropriation  is  first 
presented  by  the  Board  of  Directors. 

Article  VI. 

COMMUNAL    LAWS. 

Not  less  than  ten  (10%)  per  cent,  of  all  lands  pur- 
chased by,  or  for  the  benefit  and  advantage  of,  the  Zion 
Commonwealth,  Inc.,  shall  be  set  aside  as  Communal 
Lands  and  held  perpetually  and  as  an  inalienable  estate 
by  the  Zion  Commonwealth,  Inc.,  to  be  utilized  for  com- 
mercial, industrial  and  mineral  purposes  and  the  estab- 
lishment and  development  of  villages,  towns  and  cities. 
Portions  of  these  communal  lands  may  be  leased  to  mem- 
bers, but  only  upon  the  payment  of  certain  rentals,  an- 
nually assessed,  on  the  unimproved  value  of  such  leased 
plots  (as  ground  rents).  The  rents,  profits  and  income 
derived  therefrom  shall  be  utilized  for,  and  devoted  to, 
communal  purposes  and  public  improvements. 

Article  VII. 

BOARD  OF  SHOFTIM. 

The  Board  of  Shoftim  shall  act  as  the  general  arbi- 
tration court  for  the  members  of  the  community  and  resi- 
dents of  the  territory  of  the  Zion  Commonwealth,  Inc., 
and  to  such  Board  shall  be  referred  all  matters  of  dispute 
arising  under  Land  Certificates,  the  lands  allotted  to 
members,  and  controversies  among  residents  of  such  Zion 
Commonwealth  territory  and  between  members  and  the 
Board  of  Directors  of  the  Zion  Commonwealth,  Inc.  The 
Board  of  Directors  shall  make  proper  provision,  from  time 


142  SOCIAL  ZIONISM 

to  time,  for  representation,  on  the  Board  of  Shoftim,  of 
the  interests  of  landholders  who  are  non-residents  of  the 
various  communities  of  Zion  Commonwealth,  Inc.  The 
Board  of  Shoftim  shall  annually  assess  the  value  of  all 
the  real  estate  in  the  districts  comprising  the  territory  of 
the  Zion  Commonwealth,  making  separate  records  for 
every  dunam  (approximately  14  of  on  acre),  as  follows: — 

(a)  Eeal  estate,  exclusive  of  improvements; 

(b)  Improvements  upon  land,  exclusive  of  the  land 
values;  and 

(c)  Agricultural  values  of  all  lands,  exclusive  of  im- 
provements. 

Article  VIII. 

PUBLIC  RIGHTS  IN  LAND. 

With  the  consent  of  the  Board  of  Directors  of  the 
Zion  Commonwealth,  Inc.,  the  Board  of  Shoftim  may 
resolve  to  utilize  for  commercial,  industrial  or  mineral 
purposes,  provided  such  resolution  be  approved  at  a  popu- 
lar referendum  by  a  two-thirds  majority  of  the  votes  cast, 
the  lands  allotted  to  members  or  portions  of  such  lands, 
which  must  be  not  less  than  one  dunam  (14  of  an  acre) 
or  a  multiple  thereof.  The  person  whose  lands  are  thus 
taken  for  public  purposes  must  receive  immediately,  in 
legal  tender  of  the  United  States  of  America,  or  its 
equivalent  value  in  local  currency,  the  amount  fixed  at 
the  annual  assessment  last  preceding  as  the  agricultural 
value  of  the  land  so  appropriated  by  the  Zion  Common- 
wealth, Inc.,  besides  the  value  of  improvements  upon  such 
lands,  as  estimated  by  the  Board  of  Shoftim.  Any  mem- 


APPENDICES  143 

her  whose  lands  shall  have  been  appropriated  on  the  plan 
here  prescribed  shall  be  entitled  to  receive  other  lands  for 
agricultural  purposes,  at  the  assessed  value  thereof,  as 
soon  as  practicable. 

The  lands  alloted  to  members  may  be  sold,  conveyed, 
mortgaged,  leased,  sub-leased,  transferred,  assigned  or 
pledged  to  the  Zion  Commonwealth,  Inc.,  but  no  sale,  de- 
vise or  transfer  of  any  lands  to  any  person,  corporation 
or  association  shall  be  valid  when  objection  thereto  is 
made,  within  thirty  days  thereafter,  by  the  Board  of 
Shoftim  of  the  Zion  Commonwealth  and  sustained  by  a 
three-fourths  majority  of  the  votes  cast  at  a  popular  ref- 
erendum, held  under  rules  and  regulations  provided  by 
the  Board  of  Shoftim.  Whenever  such  sale,  devise  or 
transfer  is  set  aside,  such  lands  may  be  purchased  by  the 
Zion  Commonwealth,  Inc.,  at  the  assessed  agricultural 
value,  in  like  manner  as  if  same  were  to  be  utilized  for 
commercial,  industrial  and  mineral  purposes.  Each  mem- 
ber or  his  successors  shall  have  the  privilege,  at  the  begin- 
ning of  each  fiscal  year  (as  established  by  the  Board  of 
Directors),  to  lease  his  agricultural  holdings  to  the  Zion 
Commonwealth,  Inc.,  for  a  term  of  years,  under  condi- 
tions prescribed  by  the  Board  of  Directors. 

The  Zionist  Congress,  through  the  Jewish  National 
Fund,  or  any  other  agency,  duly  authorized  by  the  Zionist 
Congress,  shall  have  the  exclusive  right  to  purchase,  at 
any  time,  all  the  lands  of  the  Zion  Commonwealth,  Inc., 
in  any  one  or  more  communities  under  the  jurisdiction 
of  the  Board  of  Shoftim.  The  purchase  price  shall  be 
fixed  by  the  majority  vote  of  an  arbitration  board,  consist- 


144  SOCIAL  ZIONISM 

ing,  in  each  instance,  of  three  members  chosen  by  the 
Board  of  Shoftim,  an  equal  number  of  members  selected 
by  the  prospective  purchaser  and  one  or  more  impartial 
members  selected  by  those  first  chosen. 

APPENDIX  G. 

Chapter  5  is  a  reproduction  of  an  article  appearing 
in  The  Zion  Commonwealth  Bulletin  of  January,  1918, 
part  of  which  also  appeared  in  The  Public  for  June  8, 
1918. 

APPENDIX  H. 

Chapter  6  is  a  reproduction  of  an  article  appearing 
in  The  Maccabaean  Magazine  of  January,  1919. 

The  following  syllabus,  prepared  by  the  author  for 
The  Menorah  Journal  of  December,  1918,  may  be  instruc- 
tive as  an  illustration  of  the  social  tendency  in  Zionism : 

THE  NEW  PALESTINE. 

I.    PROSPECTS  AND  POLICIES. 

A.  Palestine  as  a  Jewish  State  under  British  Protection. 

(1)  The  Balfour  Declaration  of  November,  1917,  is 

part  of  a  larger  policy  whereby  Arabia,  Ar- 
menia, and  Judea  will  form  a  triumvirate  of 
nationalities,  serving  as  a  connecting  link  be- 
tween the  Orient  and  the  Occident,  and  a  bridge 
between  British  Egypt  and  British  India. 

(2)  Palestine   must   come   under   British   protection, 

since  from  the  military  as  well  as  the  political 
point  of  view  it  is  the  buffer  state  of  Egypt. 


APPENDICES  145 

(a)  Lord  Cromer  realized  the  significance  of 

Palestine  and  favored  the  Zionist  pro- 
gram. 

(b)  Palestine  must  not  be  under  joint  control 

of  various  nations  (condominium)  since 
this  may  prove  to  be  a  fruitful  source  of 
future  difficulties. 

(c)  Zionists  aim  to  make  Palestine  a  self-gov- 

erning dominion  (arid,  for  the  present, 
in  the  British  family  of  nations,  like 
Canada,  Australia,  or  South  Africa). 

(3)  The  English  are  the  only  "Bible"  people  in 
Europe,  and  would  co-operate  in  Palestine  Ee- 
storation  as  a  holy  duty. 

(a)  Cromwell  admitted  Jews  into  England  be- 

cause Puritan  England  revered  the 
Bible. 

(b)  The   English   and   Jews   are   both   "shop- 

keepers," who  carry  their  Shakespeare 
or  their  Bible  in  their  right  hand. 

B.  Palestine  as  a  Jewish  Homeland. 

(1)  A  land  of  refuge  for  the  Jews  of  Eastern  Europe, 
(a)  Jews  of  Eussia,  Poland,  Galicia  and 
Eoumania  comprise  the  majority  of  the 
Jews  of  the  world  and  constitute  a  dis- 
tinct nation,  irrespective  of  the  condi- 
tion of  their  brethren  in  Western  Europe 
or  America. 


146  SOCIAL  ZIONISM 

(b)  The  uncertain  future  of  the  Jews  in  East- 
ern Europe  demands  a  place  of  refuge 
under  the  Jewish  flag. 
(2)  Palestine  as  a  Homeland  for  the  Hebraic  spirit. 

(a)  Many  Jews,  from  East  and  West,  will  meet 

in  Palestine  to  continue  the  thread  of 
Jewish  history  that  has  been  cut  since 
the  days  of  Titus. 

(b)  Judaism  is  in  danger  without  a  central 

rallying-point. 

(c)  Jerusalem  will  be  to  Judaism  what  Eome 

is  to  Catholicism. 
C.  Palestine  as  the  Land  of  Jewish  Immigration. 

(1)  The  future  of  Palestine  depends  upon  economic 

penetration  by  the  Jewish  people, 
(a)  Jews  will  constitute  the  majority  in  Pales- 
tine within  a  single  generation. 

(2)  The  varied  training  and  experiences  of  the  Jews 

in   different  countries  will  make  possible  the 
development  of  Palestine  as  a  great  commer- 
cial state. 

(a)   The  geographical  position  of  Palestine — as 
a  connecting  link  between  three  conti- 
nents— gives  the  opportunity  for  making 
the  Land  of  Israel  the  great  emporium 
of  the  East  and  the  West. 
II.    EDUCATION  AND  KELIGION. 
A.  Education  will  be  in  Hebrew,  and  free  in  all  branches, 

schools  and  grades. 
(1)   This  was  the  unanimous  decision  of  the  delegates 


APPENDICES  147 

to  the   Pittsburgh  Zionist   Convention    (June, 
1918)  representing  the  Zionists  of  America. 

(a)  Such  a  policy  is  in  line  with  Jewish  his- 

tory and  ideals  for  centuries. 

(b)  This  policy  will  make  for  the  development 

of  a  true  democracy,  in  politics  and  so- 
ciety. 

B.  Judaism  will  be  separate  and  distinct  from  the  Jewish 
State  in  Palestine. 

(1)  Freedom  of  religion  will  be  guaranteed. 

(a)  This  principle  was  unanimously  adopted 
at  the  Pittsburgh  Zionist  Convention 
(June,  1918). 

(2)  Judaism  as  a  voluntary  institution  in  a  Jewish 

environment   will  have   great   opportunity  for 
growth. 

(3)  Legal  and  economic  factors  will  give  opportunity 

for  the  development  of  the  Jewish  religion. 

(a)  Examples:  Saturday  "blue"  laws,  Jewish 
holidays  as  legal  holidays,  the  control  of 
the  packing  industry  by  the  Govern- 
ment, in  accordance  with  Jewish  religi- 
ous rites. 

III.     STATUS  OF  NON-JEWISH  POPULATION. 
A. -Equal  rights  for  all  Palestinians. 

(1)  This  principle  was  adopted  by  the  Zionists  of 
America  in  convention  assembled  (Pittsburgh 
Platform,  June,  1918). 


148  SOCIAL  ZIONISM 

(a)   This  principle  will  be  applied  so  that  citi- 
zenship and  voting  rights  will  be  granted 
irrespective  of  race,  sex,  or  creed. 
B.  Palestine  will  be  a  Jewish  State  only  in  the  sense  that 

a  majority  of  the  population  will  be  Jewish. 
(1)   The    principle    of    democratic  rule    and    equal 
rights,  as  developed  in  America  and  England, 
will  be  applied. 

IV.    POSSIBILITIES  OF  LEADERSHIP  IN  SOCIAL  AND 
ECONOMIC  ORGANIZATION. 

A.  The  Jew  as  a  social  force  in  history. 

(1)  The  Prophets  of  Israel  as  the  preachers  of  polit- 

ical, social  and  economic  democracy. 

(2)  The  Rabbis  as  the  teachers  in  a  democratic  school 

of  Jewish  students. 

(3)  The  Jewish  figures  in  political  history  almost  in- 

variably the  leaders  in  Liberalism,  Labor  and 
Socialism. 

(a)  Examples:    Karl    Marx,    Lassalle,    Hess, 

Lasker,   Bernstein,   Joseph   Pels,   Bran- 
deis,  Gompers. 

(b)  Even  unreasonable  extremists  like  Trotsky 

show  only  the  necessary  evil  involved  in 
this    Jewish    tendency    towards    social 
justice. 
B.  Jewish  co-operative  efforts  in  Palestine. 

(1)  Prom  the  outset,  Jewish  colonization  in  Pales- 
tine was  marked  by  important  contributions  in 
the  field  of  co-operative  enterprise. 


APPENDICES 


149 


(a)  Co-operative    Loan    Societies    among    the 

colonists  were  of  great  value  in  the  up- 
building of  the  settlements. 

(b)  Co-operative    selling    societies    of    orange 

growers  practically  controlled  the  orange 
output  of  Palestine. 

(c)  Co-operative  vine  growers'  associations,  co- 

operative watchmen's  societies,  etc.,  to 
make  Palestine  the  great  experiment 
station  in  a  system  of  "voluntary 
socialism." 

(d)  Merchavia  and  other  labor  co-operative  col- 

onies are  new  developments,  deserving  of 
observation  and  study. 

(2)  The  Jewish  National  Fund  purchases  land  in  Pal- 

estine, in  trust  for  the  Jewish  people. 

(a)  This  will  make  it  possible  to  vest  in  the 
Jewish  people  the  ownership  and  control 
of  large  tracts  of  land  in  Palestine,  cre- 
ating a  national  domain,  which  may  be 
a  great  factor  in  the  future  of  Palestine. 

(3)  Present  colonization  plans  call  for  a  large  meas- 

ure of  co-operative  effort. 

(a)  The  Zion  Commonwealth  organized  in  the 
United  States  for  co-operative  land  pur- 
chase and  agricultural  development  in 
Palestine  has  developed  a  program  for 
the  collective  ownership  of  city  land,  in- 
dustrial plots,  and  sub-soil  deposits. 


150  SOCIAL  ZIONISM 

C.  The  Zionists  are  planning  for  the  establishment  of  a 
model  commonwealth. 

(1)  Herzl  was  interested  not  only  in  Political  Zion- 

ism, but  also  in  "Social  Zionism." 

(a)  The   "Judenstatt"   deals  with   the   future 

labor  problem  in  Palestine. 

(b)  "Altneuland"   is   the   picture   of   a   social 

Utopia. 

(2)  The   Pittsburgh  Platform,  unanimously  adopted 

by  the  American  Zionists  in  convention  assem- 
bled, in  June,  1918,  reaffirms  the  social  philos- 
ophy of  Zionism. 

(a)  The  land  of  Palestine  will  be  owned  by  all 

the  people,  and  leased  to  individuals,  so 
as  to  assure  continuity  of  possession. 

(b)  Co-operative  enterprise  will  be  encouraged, 

as  far  as  possible,  without  crushing  in- 
dividual initiative. 

V.    RELATIONS  TO  DIASPORA  JEWEY. 
A.  The  racio-religious  connection  between  Palestine  Jews 

and  their  brethren  outside  of  Palestine. 
(1)   This  relationship  is  established  in  Jewish  history. 

(a)  In  the  Maccabean  era,  there  was  a  large 

community  of  Jews  in  Egypt  who  were 
intimately  connected  with  Palestinian 
Jewry. 

(b)  During  the  Talmud  era,  there  was  a  large 

community  of  Jews  in  Babylonia  which 
was  bound  up  with  Jewish  life  in  Pales- 
tine. 


APPENDICES 


151 


(2)  The  Sanhedrin,  representing  the  Jews  of  the 
world  as  a  religious  body,  will  meet  periodically 
in  Palestine. 

(a)  This  Sanhedrin  would  represent  the  unity 

of  Israel  as  a  racio-religious  group,  but 
would  have  no  political  power. 

(b)  The   Sanhedrin  will  give  opportunity  for 

the  development  of  Judaism  as  a  sys- 
tem of  religious  laws,  based  on  tradi- 
tion, yet  subject  to  legislative  changes. 

(c)  This  would  give  us  a  Judaism  which  would 

build  upon  its  traditions,  and  yet  enable 
us  to  respond  to  the  spirit  of  the  ages, 
as  reflected  in  a  Jewish  environment  in 
Palestine. 


The  Sinai  Press,  Inc. 
176  Park  Roiv,  New  York  City 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

.  V     A- Hrs 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


001225917    2 


